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Chapter Text

Okuyasu laid calmly in his bed, flipping through a manga as he waited for his friend to arrive. Today was the day that both of them would be fully settled into their new dorm room. Okuyasu had already been fully moved in for about a week now since he didn't have much to move anyway and not much family that wanted to see him off before college, so he had been going over to Josuke's house every so often to help him slowly pack his stuff and move it here. By now, most of Josuke's belongings were in their tiny apartment, including most of his clothes, video games, and school stuff. They had even bought some new furniture and beds to fill the apartment and assembled them earlier in the week. As far as Okuyasu knew, his friend was just going to bring some more miscellaneous items that he hadn't brought yet, and then it would be done. He and his best friend will officially be living together!

He had to admit; he was so excited. In his mind, it was just like having a sleepover with his best bro, except it never ended! He felt his nerves firing with adrenaline just at the thought of it. 'We are gonna have so much fun' the man thought smugly to himself, letting out a quiet chuckle as he shuffled a bit on his bed out of anticipation. He wasn't too worried in the slightest, at least not yet. Yeah, their dorm was pretty small, but he honestly didn't mind sharing his space with Josuke at all. He was happy to, really. Their dorm room featured a small kitchen that you entered into, a tiny living room with no wall separating the two, a bedroom off of the living room, and a bathroom inside the bedroom. 

So in short, the boys were sharing everything, including a bedroom and bathroom. Not that the billion boy even cared. As he had already concluded, this was all one big thrill for him. Plus, they did have some sort of separation going on. Okuyasu and Josuke's beds were pushed to opposite ends of the room, and they each had their respective cabinets in the bathroom. So that should be enough, right? They already do everything together anyway. What's the worst that can happen? With that thought process, there was no way his excitement was going to die down anytime soon. He truly couldn't wait for his best friend to arrive.

Meanwhile, Josuke was walking down the hall, aiming for his new living space, which was now only a few steps away. Both hands were stuffed with bags; usually he'd use Crazy Diamond to help with this sort of thing, but that wasn't really an option when he wasn't in private. So with a few huffs and puffs on his way to reach the door, he finally made it with a big sigh. Since he didn't want to let go of the bags, he started kicking the door a few times, yelling for his best friend inside. 

"Oi! Okuyasu! Open the door for me!" His voice was firm, most likely loud enough to be easily heard from inside. It was finally time to move into his new place with Okuyasu; the both of them had been talking about this all summer long. Josuke was excited about this new chapter in their lives, and he was even happier that he got to start it with his best buddy; they practically did everything together at this point. Since the both of them hung out all the time anyway, living together wouldn't be much different than that, right? That's at least how Josuke envisioned it, and in his mind, he was all giddy about the new atmosphere. 

His mother had made a bit of a fuss about missing 'her little baby', to which Josuke just scoffed. Even if he was going to see her pretty often still, he knew he was still going to miss her some, but he was more excited than anything to finally move out. During the wait for his best friend to open the door, Josuke blew some strands of loose hair out of his face, frowning a little at the slight mess his hair had become from all the sweating. Usually he was very particular about making sure that his hair wouldn't become too much of a hassle whenever he moved a lot, but this morning he was in a bit of a rush, which led to it not being as perfectly in shape as normal. 'How annyoing..' the male sighed to himself as he adjusted his grip on the bags in his hands.

With the sudden booming 'knocks' and voice behind the door, Okuyasu immediately shot up out of bed. He could feel his pulse racing in excitement as he quickly unlocked the door and swung it open, all in one big motion. Right away, Josuke's eyes traveled away from his hair and to the man in front of him, who, with complete disregard for the other man's situation, instantly flung his arms around Josuke and pulled him into a tight bear hug, rocking him wildly. Screeching a loud "Josuke!! I've been waiting ALL day for you!" 

With the sudden added weight, the pompadour boy couldn't help but stumble backwards, his grip tightening on his bags. "W-woah! Careful!" the older male exclaimed in surprise, letting his friend hug him tightly, not that he could hold him back anyway with all the bags in his hands. Finally, Okuyasu let go of his friend, excitedly stepped aside, and took in the view of the situation. It was only then that he noticed how much stuff the other was carrying, and once realization dawned on him, he quickly said, "Oh- Gimme some of those!" Before snatching a few bags up in his own hands and leading off to their shared room to set them down, still beaming with happiness as he did. A slight chuckle left Josuke's lips at Okuyasu's enthusiasm, and after he let go of the bags his buddy had grabbed, he finally allowed himself to adjust his hair. 

"Sorry it took forever, my mom just couldn't let me leave.. y'know how she is," Josuke spoke with a sigh as he entered the room, setting down the rest of his belongings before just plopping down onto his bed with a big exhalation. For a moment, he closed his eyes and leaned back, enjoying the little rest he was finally allowed to have. His muscles thanked him in response as he felt them relax. Okuyasu squinted at his friend in response to his reasoning as to why he took so long, following up with a joking "Okay, good excuse." Before throwing himself down on the bed beside his best friend. He was partially lying, propped up on his side, using his arm to support his head as he looked up to meet Josuke's eyes. 

"Phew.. moving sucks," Josuke mumbled to himself with another sigh as he looked over at his best friend, who seemed very ecstatic compared to him. "I dunno what you mean, I'm having a great time!" Okuyasu chimed in, his smile not fading as he raised a brow at the other. The younger male honestly didn't understand how much more stressful the move must be for his friend, since he really didn't have a similar situation to compare at all. He barely had anything to bring with him, and his father's seeing him off was pretty simple. There is no extended family or anything else to worry about. He even left Stray Cat with his father to keep him company while he was gone.

The move was mostly just waiting for his buddy to be ready in Okuyasu's eyes, and he was excited. Maybe excited was an understatement. He could feel his pulse beating and his fingertips tingling, his stomach felt all fuzzy, and he just knew that this is going to be the start of some of the best days of their lives.

Josuke couldn't help chuckling at Okuyasu, rolling his eyes playfully in response. "You didn't have to carry all this crap here!" the male replied sarcastically and bumped his friend's shoulder with his fist as he let out a small laugh to signalize his joking intent. Which elicited a laugh in response to the playful punch, as well as him blowing a quick raspberry at his ‘assailant’. But Josuke's eyes soon traveled over to his bags, which he knew he'd have to unpack. The anticipation dawned on him as he just sighed again and fully laid down now, his hands working at a pillow as he folded them behind his head. "Man, I don't wanna move anymore." He exhaled and closed his eyes once more, avoiding any eye contact with the work that was awaiting him. 

He was also extremely excited to finally be living together with Okuyasu. He just didn't want to deal with all the stress that came with it, though he was fairly happy now that most of it was finally nearing its end. "Not my fault you got too much shit- my minimalist lifestyle seems to be coming in handy after all." He joked, taking it upon himself to lower his head down from his hand and rest it on the other's leg now that he had fully laid down. To him, it wasn't anything unusual, he was typically pretty touchy with Josuke. "We can just finish later, right?" He started, fiddling around with some loose zippers on his buddy's clothes. "Let's just chill for a while, we've been doin’ movin’ shit ALLLLL week!" He finished with a whine.

Josuke didn't even question Okuyasu's behavior; it was so normal to them, and he just pouted his lips as he thought of his friend's propositions. "Hmm.. I dunno Oku, we finish now, we got nothin' left to do for like, ever, y'know?" Josuke argued back as he moved his leg slightly, causing Okuyasu's head to move from its comfortable spot. Okuyasu felt his heart flutter at the way that nickname rolled off of his friend's lips. He didn't know why, but he always really liked when Josuke would use it. It made him feel special in a way. He had to distract himself from that, though, as he listened to his friend's counterproposal. A small sigh escaped his lips as he heard what he dreaded and knew Josuke was going to say. What he hated more was how it made sense and how he was probably correct. But the younger man definitely had a slight motivation issue. Luckily, Josuke knew how to keep him in check. 

The blue-eyed boy did think a break would be nice, but at the same time he just wanted to be done with all the work, all the organizing. "If you help me, I'll be done quickly, how 'bout it?" the male then proposed as he opened his eyes and tilted his head towards Okuyasu, raising a brow as their eyes met. Josuke would be more inclined to deal with all of this stress if his best friend would be by his side and help him in the meantime. A small smile formed on his lips as he awaited the reply.

Fate was pretty much sealed when Josuke said he would appreciate the other's help. If there's one thing Okuyasu loved a lot, it was being useful and showing off for his pal. Plus, look at that smile, how could he say no? But that didn't mean he had to be enthusiastic about it each time. He met Josuke's gaze with a slight pout before burying his face back into his leg before whining out, “Okay, fine, but then if it takes more than, like, two hours, we take a break for real!" And as soon as Josuke heard his best friend's reply, his upper body raised from his lying position. He placed one of his hands on Okuyasu's head and ruffled his hair just a bit, purposefully being gentle as not to destroy his hair too much; he knew how much he himself wouldn't like that. 

The brown eyed boy was genuinely distressed by the thought of having to go forward with unpacking more stuff, but when he felt the light touch of his best friend's hand on his head, the majority of his stress seemed to melt away immediately. Josuke really did know best how to comfort him. He was a bit concerned about the placement of his hair now, but he could feel the other being gentle, so he was sure it was probably alright. 

"Alright! Let's go then," Josuke said, his hand lingering for just a bit longer before he stood up without waiting for the other male to get off his leg, playfully pushing him off of him. Okuyasu almost forgot what they were doing for a moment; he was getting so comfortable like that. It wasn't until Josuke removed his lingering touches and stood up, shoving Okuyasu on the bed, that he finally snapped into motion. 

Immediately after getting up, the pompadour boy walked over to his bags and kneeled down in front of them, starting to unzip a big black case that was filled up with random clothes just stuffed into the bag. Anyone could easily tell that this specific bag was packed solely by Josuke, as he wasn't organized with it nearly as much as his mother had been. In the end, he figured it didn't matter anyway, as he was about to unpack it all again regardless

"Hey!" Okuyasu yelled playfully, throwing one of the pillows from the bed, just barely missing the other boy's body with it since he knelt down at the same time. "What if you, like, cracked my head or somethin’!! Yanno, like the monkeys!" He joked, doing a little 'armpit scratch' monkey movement as he crawled off the bed 

Josuke just grimaced at Okuyasu and nodded softly for a moment. "You're nothin' far from a monkey, Oku," he then responded playfully with a laugh while he grabbed a few clean clothes from his bag and started folding them. He started stacking them, categorizing them by shirts, pants, underwear, and so on. He just wanted to quickly finish. "You can grab the other bag, I think it's got some random things in it," he said as he turned towards Okuyasu and then pointed over at the other bag he brought. He wasn't sure what exactly that bag contained anymore, as his mother had helped him pack, but it was most likely just miscellaneous stuff he had sitting in his old room.

"Yer the monkey here, Josuke!" He shot back, giving his friend a narrow eyed glare as he traveled over towards the bag that Josuke was pointing to. He grabbed the bag and unzipped it, beginning to dreadfully look over the pile of stuff that he didn't particularly want to go through but would anyway for his bro. Reluctantly, he started slowly digging into the pile of things in the bag. He was so sluggish as he pulled things out one at a time and examined them for a few seconds, being too lazy to work out where they should go before again sluggishly placing them where he thought they would look good.

And pretty much as soon as Josuke started folding the clothes as well, he already sighed, whining a little. "Maaan, I already wanna stop! Let's finish quickly, I'm hungry!" The older boy now started to speed up his folding after just a couple shirts. It was already looking like such a mess, with the neatly folded clothes turning into a lazily stacked pile. As much as he knew he shouldn't be sloppy, he also agreed with his friend; they had been in the process of moving for so long now, and he just wanted to be done with it. The details could wait for some other time, he thought. 

When Josuke spoke up again, the scarred boy thought he was starting to finally get through to his friend. “Yeah, I'm starvin" He confirmed, hoping that the other would just opt to stop already. However, that wouldn't end up being the case.

"Let's see who's faster! Whoever loses buys food!" The blue-eyed boy grinned cheekily as he looked over at Okuyasu, knowing he would probably be faster with his bag of clothes anyway.

Now that Josuke had proposed a challenge, Okuyasu’s nerves fired up a little in anticipation. But at the same time, he had to let out a little whine in protest, "What! That's not fair, I ain’t even sure what's in here a hundred percent! This could take me forever!" But despite the protest, he still picked up the pace with a grin, now starting to grab a few things at a time and place them as he walked around with more haste.

The proud, cheeky grin grew on Josuke's face as he could sense the desperation in his friend's voice. "Ya better hurry it up then! Or else your wallet's gonna be cryin'!" he playfully exclaimed as he kept speedily grabbing more clothes and folded them halfheartedly, adding more to the half-pile-half-stack of clothes. 

Josuke was going to give this his all if it meant that he was going to be treated to a nice meal. He hadn't eaten much of anything yet, and all that moving and sweating surely had an effect on the tall male. 'I'm so gonna win this!' he thought to himself proudly as he felt very secure with this one. As unfair as it may have been, he didn't care all that much about it; the hunger was bigger than his care for fairness.

"Noooo!" Okuyasu cried out in response as he tried to pick up his pace more. At this point, he wasn't even really paying attention to how he was putting things. He was placing books upside down and figures on their sides, just putting things next to each other with no sense of organization.

After a few moments, he glanced over to his friend, and his desperation only picked up further when he saw how fast Josuke was getting through the clothes. 'I'm gonna be broke' he thought to himself as he grabbed another armful of items to place on some shelves. He hoped he had a small chance.

A while had passed, and, just as Josuke had anticipated, he was quite ahead of his friend. He finished up folding the last bits of clothes as he picked them up and sorted them—well, more so, shoved them—into his drawers. With a big exhalation and a clap of his hands, he turned to Okuyasu with proud eyes. 

"Done! You're too slow, bro!" He teased the other as he walked over and took a peek at what was left in the bag Okuyasu was dealing with. To his surprise, there wasn't much left anymore, which led to a shiver running down his spine as he noticed how close he actually was to losing. Okuyasu had gotten himself extremely invested in his attempt at beating Josuke in this game. The sound of the other finishing up slightly startled the younger male, causing him to jump slightly as he spun around to face his pal.

"Better luck next time, huh?" Josuke grimaced, throwing one of his arms around his best friend's shoulder and pulling him in. Josuke surely was very proud of himself, and whenever he saw an opportunity to show off, he wasn't going to let that slide. His arm lingered around his buddy, and the grin on his face didn't dissipate even the slightest as he basked in this win.

But Okuyasu’s face formed into a pout as he listened to the other taunt him. He knew he was probably going to lose, but that didn't make him any less of a sore loser in the end. However, some of his grumpy mood seemed to dissipate as he felt the pressure of an arm being wrapped around him. That feeling alone seemed to stop him from exploding a little bit. Yeah, well- next time you can't be a cheater! That's the ONLY reason you won" He protested, giving his buddy a playful punch in the chest

"Pff, sure, sure.." Josuke rolled his eyes at Okuyasu's accusation, though he could feel a slight prickle at his heart as his words weren't completely wrong. "Well, whatever! You're buying food-" Josuke was excited to finally be done, only to be crushed as his eyes moved back over to another bag he had overseen up until now. 

"-WHAT! There's no way that's been there the whole time!!" He let go of his friend and hurried over to the bag, where he unzipped it and found more clothes and some other little things he had apparently stuffed into it in a rush. A big sigh left Josuke's lips as he went back down onto his knees, his head falling onto the bag face first. 

"Maaan, I thought we'd be done!" He muffled into the clothes that covered his face, a big rainy cloud could basically be seen above the boy's head, that's how annoyed he had felt.

Okuyasu was already defeated and sighing again over his loss and Josuke's words, so when the other unhappily cried out his surprise about another bag lying on the floor, Okuyasu had to laugh a little bit. Now his friend had to share his misfortune.

"Oh no-" He laughed sarcastically, feeling somewhat amused by the karmatic turn of things. "WE- Josuke? I thought I had to go get the food now, so I dunno looks like YOU’RE not done, dude." He gloated, walking over to his friend and giving his hair a few gentle pats as he whined into the bag of clothes.

Josuke's head shot up, his eyes moving to his friend. He was so frustrated, he didn't even mind the hand on his perfect hair. "Oku! C-come on, man! I mean, we can just.. do this together really quickly, huh?" He nervously chuckled at him while looking up, trying to give him his best puppy-eyes. He knew that this probably wouldn't take all that much longer to finish, but Josuke was so determined to be finished that this realization just crushed his motivation completely, thus the pleading to his best friend. An action that he wasn't even sure mattered at all, if he was honest. 

'I shouldn't have been so cocky..' the boy thought to himself in regret as he kept glancing at Okuyasu, his eyes sparkling like a little puppy's, his hands clasped together.

The younger man felt somewhat fulfilled, seeing Josukes pleading stance. It did something to him, he had to admit. It made his heart beat fast, especially those puppy eyes. 'That's how it feels to win' he just thought to himself. "Hmm, I dunno, Josuke.." He teased, giving the other boy's head a few more daring strokes to push the limits of how far he could go without upsetting the other.  

"Hmm... well either I go and get the food already, and I'll pay, or I stay and help ya and we gotta split the bill!" He decided, cockily raising an eyebrow at the older male. "Your choice." He finished smugly. Now it was Okuyasu's turn to be full of himself.

A big groan slipped out of Josuke's mouth as he realized the situation he found himself in. The hand on his hair started to finally weigh down on him, his lips twitching in response. "..You're cruel, Okuyasu, so cruel.." the boy whined, more so to himself than to his friend. 

The brown eyed boy had to laugh at the despair filling his friend's expression. He finally removed his hand from the other so that he wouldn't actually end up pissing him off in the end, and he smirked as he responded. "Only as cruel as you make me be. Yer fault, buddy!" He rubbed it in as he took a few steps back to plop down on the floor while he awaited an answer.

This was a tough decision; was he willing to do all this work by himself but get good food for free in return? Or would he rather have to suck it up regarding the money he would have to spend and have Okuyasu help him? Josuke moved his head down in despair at either of those choices and let out a big groan. 

"Man.. Alright!! You go get the food! I can surely deal with this shit by myself!" The teen exclaimed as he turned his back to the younger male, staring down at the full bag. He wasn't actually mad at his buddy; he was just grumpy over the fact that he hadn't eaten and that he still had clothes left to fold.

When he heard his friend grumpily give in and decide that Okuyasu should just go and get the food, the younger man had to let out a triumphant laugh. As much as he didn't want to spend a bunch of money, he wanted to sort through the bag way less. So in a way, it all worked out for him! "Hah, good luck, bro!" He teased, leaning over to his nightstand and digging around for a pen and paper. "Whadd'ya want?" He continued, softly poking the others back with the cap of the pen as he asked.

Josuke thought to himself for a while, deeply pondering what his tongue was currently craving. Since his hunger had been huge, he realized he didn't seem to be in a picky mood, so he turned to his friend, folding another shirt. "Just get the usual from Tonio's, that'd be so good right now.." he said dreamily as he closed his eyes, feeling the saliva build up. Josuke and Okuyasu actually hadn't been at Tonio's for a while, even though it was their go-to restaurant. As much as he'd like to accompany his friend right now, he had to suck it up and deal with the mountain of clothes, though at least he'd still get the food, he thought. 

While Josuke was still thinking about what he wanted, the smaller male got up and started putting on his jacket and shoes. When he finally heard Josuke's decision, he had to let out a satisfied "mmm" as he slipped away the pen and paper, since the boys ordered there often enough that he knew what they liked by heart. "Yeah, good choice, sounds amazin’ right now." He agreed with a satisfied smile.

"Say hi to him for me, will ya?" Josuke spoke with a quick nod, making sure he wouldn't forget his request.

Okuyasu was already on his way out the bedroom door when he heard his friend's request to say hi to the chef. "Gotcha!" He responded, giving a confirming nod as he slipped away with a final "have fun sorting out yer bullshit!" As he disappeared out of their shared apartment.

Hearing the door open and close again left Josuke sighing once more. "Alright then.. let's do this," he mumbled to himself, folding the clothes more neatly this time than before, as he didn't rush like before in their competition. After a few minutes of folding, Josuke got the idea of getting Crazy Diamond to help him out. So he called it out and ordered it to put away some things, also organizing the messed up placements of objects Okuyasu left behind. 

He felt relieved to have his Stand helping him out, even if this might seem like an inappropriate way of using it. He was close enough to it that he knew Crazy Diamond didn't mind. Josuke hummed while he finished up folding the last bits of clothes, getting up and placing them into the drawers with the rest, and his Stand finished up flipping books over that were misplaced. "Dora!" it happily hummed at its user, to which Josuke smiled brightly. 

"Thanks man!" he cheered as his Stand dissipated, and he let out a big groan, stretching. Finally, he was done, for real this time. The only thing that was missing was the delicious food he was impatiently waiting for, and while he did so, he laid back in his bed for now, his back thanking him in response. Laying down felt so relaxing that he had to make sure not to doze off on accident, so he lifted his head up with his hand, keeping his eyes closed regardless. 

The ride to Tonio's was pretty peaceful; it was a calm day like usual as of late in Morioh, and it didn't take all that long since he was going on his motorcycle. It was probably his most prized possession, mostly since he was still paying the thing off. It was stupidly pricey, but he had to have it. He remembered having a similar one back when he met Josuke. It felt good to have another. 

Once at the restaurant, he made his way inside and sought out the Italian chef. His restaurant had become more and more busy over the years, which he was happy for, but he still completely disregarded the line or proper order of things anyway. After a slight argument with the chef and eventually having to wait anyway, Okuyasu finally got his turn to order. And when he did, he ended up striking up a conversation with Tonio about how Josuke had finally moved into their place and how excited he was. He also remembered just then to say hi for Josuke, which made the chef very happy. In general, Tonio seemed so proud of the boys. So proud, in fact, that he didn't end up charging Okuyasu full price and added a few extra surprise dishes to their orders. Along with a little note that said, 'Congratulations on new beginnings and good luck to both of you with your studies.' As well as a separate one that just said 'Hello Josuke, hope to see you by soon :)' stuck specifically to a takeout plate he knew was for the flamboyant man. 

All of this, other than the price change, was under Okuyasus nose, though he wouldn't know until he got home. After receiving the food and thanking Tonio profusely for the cheap food, he packed up the bags onto his bike and started off towards home. A thought that made him giddy with excitement. 'I'm bringing food home to Josuke. OUR home' he thought proudly. 

Once he arrived, he parked his motorcycle back in place and grabbed the bags before making his way back to their shared apartment. "Oi Josuke, food! Come get these, so I don’t drop ‘em" He called out as he unlocked and opened the door, arms full of delicious smelling paper bags.

Only a few minutes had passed since the start of Josuke’s relaxation session when the door's lock clicked, causing Josuke's eyes to shoot open quickly. His gaze instantly shot to the door, where he saw Okuyasu with bags in his hands. He shot up from his bed and grabbed them from his friend. "Finally dude! I'm starvin'!" he exclaimed happily as he walked over to the middle of the room and placed the bags onto the floor, plopping down next to them. Okuyasu let out a sigh of relief as his friend hastily scooped the bags out of his hands. He quickly shook out an oncoming cramp in his hand before turning to close and lock the door again real quick, laughing a bit at his pal's eagerness.

The older male left some room next to him for Okuyasu to join him, while he impatiently opened the bags to check the contents inside, saliva building up in his mouth once again. "And? How's Tonio?" Josuke asked while sorting out the food, separating it.

He had almost forgotten about Tonio again until he heard Josuke ask. "Oh yeah-" He said, plopping down next to Josuke and starting to help pull the food out of the bag. "He's SUPER busy, I guess. We gotta step up our dining game if we wanna keep the number one customer spot, probably." He joked, smiling a bit as he more seriously added "He's good though, says hi 'n that we should both drop by soon." Josuke couldn't help but smile at Tonio's success. He was happy for him. At the same time, he could feel his determination build up when he thought about their number one spot being taken. That could never happen, he thought.

The scarred boy trailed off for a moment as he pulled out the food containers, the cogs starting to click and turn in his head as he started to put two and two together. "Hold on..." He started, staring confusedly at the bag and using his fingers to count the number of containers he saw and then the number he remembered ordering. There were three extra side dishes that he hadn't ordered; they must be a gift! "I THINK HE GAVE US THESE ONES FOR FREE!" He shouted in excitement, gesturing to the three containers to the side. During one more excited look through the bag to make sure he wasn't miscounting, it was then that he spotted the note stuck to one of Josuke's plates and the freely placed one lying in the bag. He could see Josuke's from here, so he didn't need to inspect it, but he did pick up the other one and take a look. 

His eyes started tearing up as soon as he read it. "aWW that's so sweet!" He bawled, shoving the note in his buddy's direction with tears falling from his face. He was genuinely touched by the gesture and, therefore, was getting a bit emotional. It had never been hard to provoke emotion out of Okuyasu, and this just did him over.

Okuyasu's reaction made the other flinch in surprise, his eyes widening as he checked the rest of the contents. "Woah!!" Josuke chimed in, his smile growing bigger. His eyes fixed on his crying friend first, then at the note being shoved into his face, trying to read it. Which wasn't all that easy at this close of a distance; it just looked like a blur. He grabbed the note in his own hands and read it properly, not paying much more attention to his buddy, who was definitely way too emotional for his own good sometimes, he thought jokingly. 

Once Okuyasu started his emotional rollercoaster, it usually just needed to be ridden out until the end. Especially when it happened over something so small to begin with. So of course, when his friend just didn't make a comment on it, he didn't think twice. Josuke had likely become used to his antics by now, so he figured it didn't bother him any. Once Josuke took the note from his hands and read it for himself, Okuyasu recoiled into himself and tried wiping away his tears, but more just fell to replace them right away. 

Out of nowhere, Crazy Diamond appeared, hovering above Okuyasu with worried eyes. "Dora!" it exclaimed worriedly as it lowered itself in front of him and grabbed his shoulders, checking his body for any sort of injury. But Okuyasu hadn't expected it at all when Crazy Diamond materialized right in front of him. In fact, it startled him slightly, causing him to jump a bit before tilting his head to look up at the tall spirit, eyes still filled with tears. He watched closely, sniffling a bit as he saw the Stand reach out for him. Crazy Diamond was so used to the younger man hurting himself that he immediately responded to any sort of sign of danger, even without Josuke's input.

 "Dora..?" The Stand tilted its head gently to one side as it didn't seem to find any injuries on his body, so it locked eyes with Okuyasu, and you could almost see the question mark forming above its head. 

"Whaddya doin’ Josuke? Is something broken?" Okuyasu asked through sniffles, his eyes slowly glancing back and forth between the stand and the user. 

However, when Crazy Diamond kept staring him down and turning him around to examine him, that's when the scarred man realized that the Stand was there for HIM. He wasn't really sure what to do; he was kind of taken by surprise. But hey, at least he had stopped crying so hard. Now he was just confused more than anything. He didn't protest as the stand looked him over. He just kept looking at Josuke, who seemed almost as confused as he was. 

Josuke's eyes shot up at the second 'Dora' he heard, confused as to how and why his Stand had appeared without him wanting it to. Though it had happened more frequently over the past few weeks, he was still quite lost. He carefully watched his Stand to make sure Okuyasu was alright, a sigh leaving his lips in response. "Crazy Diamond.. he's fine-" The user started speaking, but was quickly interrupted by the Stand anyway. "Dora!!" it replied seriously, frowning as intensely as it could at its user as to tell him off before focusing its attention back on Okuyasu. Josuke just shrugged it off with another sigh before checking the other note specifically for him. Another smile formed on his lips in return as he felt a fuzzy feeling build up inside him. Tonio really was such a good person, he thought.

"Yeah, I'm good, Crazy D." The younger man reassured it, smiling a bit through his crusty, teary eyes and giving the stand a light pat on its arm, only to be interrupted by the spirit's cry. However, he still kept his hand there to try to reassure it. Again, Okuyasu shot his friend a confused look and raised an eyebrow. "What's goin’ on with him?" He asked his friend, his eyes now only focusing on the worried looking Stand in front of him.

"Man, I dunno! He's been doing shit as he wants sometimes, no clue why," Josuke replied with a scoff, his eyes rolling as he looked over at Crazy Diamond once more, who was still quietly hovering over his friend. It almost seemed as if he was protecting him, but from what? 

Then the younger man's eyes widened in surprise; he didn't even know that it was possible for Stands to do that. His Stand hasn't ever come out on its own before, despite having reckless and poor control over him. But those situations seemed very different. He then looked back at Crazy Diamond as well, who was seemingly hovering protectively over him. He then gave the stand's arm another soft pat, rubbing the spot with his thumb for a moment as he responded to his friend. "That's so strange.." 

It's not like it was unusual for Okuyasu to be acting this way; for some reason, though, it didn't seem to matter to Josuke’s soul. Okuyasu brought his eyes back to Crazy Diamond's as he finally retracted his hand from the Stand's arm. Crazy Diamond simply nodded at Okuyasu’s reassurance and wiped away a tear with another soft 'Dora', before just disappearing into thin air once again. The younger man had to let out a small laugh as he felt the large stand wipe away his tears. "That tickles!" He squealed happily. Boy, how fast his emotions switched. His small laughs lingered until the Stand disappeared, and he looked at his friend just in time for him to start speaking again.

"..Maybe something's wrong with it? You think I should talk to Jotaro or something?" Josuke replied awkwardly as he watched his Stand act all gentle towards his buddy, averting eye contact immediately. 

Meanwhile, he grabbed a box filled with food and opened it, the delicious smell instantly creeping up his nose and saliva building up, almost resulting in him drooling. He grabbed some chopsticks and started grabbing some of the food and shoving it into his mouth, his eyes closing at the fabulous taste and texture that came with it. "Mhh.." He couldn't help but vocalize his enjoyment, with his taste buds dancing in his mouth and a smile forming on his lips as his awkward feeling from earlier quickly faded away.

"Hmm... I dunno maybe. He knows way more about this stuff than we do." Okuyasu replied, stopping to ponder for a moment. "It was kinda cute, though, so it can't be that bad, right?" He said it plainly, not really thinking about the meaning behind the words. As he spoke, he also reached out for one of his boxes and started tearing in, salivating at the smell of the delicious food in front of him. "Oh well, we can ask him later." He decided, the topic leaving his mind as soon as it had entered now that he was distracted with a more important matter. The boy started shoveling food into his mouth alongside his friend, also not able to stop himself from vocalizing a few grunts and moans of enjoyment.

Josuke choked slightly at Okuyasu's words, clearing his throat after a few awkward coughs. "C-cute?! Oku, you're so weird, man.." the male responded, perplexed at that thought. He didn't understand how his strong and cool Stand could be perceived as cute, especially as it was his own soul. 

It was just kind of awkward because when his friend touched his Stand's arm earlier, he could feel a slight pressure on his own, lingering for a while even after the other had stopped. He shook his head in response and stuffed his mouth with another load of food, chewing thoroughly. "But yeah, let's do that," he then said, mouth stuffed. 

Regardless of why Crazy D did what it did, he was glad that Okuyasu had stopped bawling and was able to just happily enjoy his food in peace, so he figured it wasn't that big of a deal anyway. Without any more words from Josuke's end, he just kept shoveling the food into his mouth; as per usual with Tonio's food, the bodily sensation is always fairly strong when eaten. 

It always made him feel tingly, like his cells were dancing. Obviously, depending on what exactly Tonio came up with, the reaction differed strongly. This time, though, it was rather tame than what he was used to, most likely due to the fact that they hadn't personally gone there for him to decide on the best dish for them to enjoy. It was extremely delicious nonetheless, the taller male thought.

Okuyasu had to laugh a bit at his friend's reaction, "What?? Why's it weird?? Yer weird!" He joked, but really, he didn't see what was so odd about thinking so, especially after seeing the stand's behavior. 

"Whatever!! Just forget it!" Josuke protested with a firm shake of his head. He wasn't sure either why he found it so weird; he just didn't really.. agree? Regardless, Josuke figured it didn't matter much and just kept eating his meal, trying not to think about it any further. 

Whatever it was, it was a fleeting thought anyway, especially since the boys were already digging into their delicious meal. Pigging out was one of Okuyasu's many talents, and he wasn't going to let anything get in his way. He powered through his food until he made a good-sized dent in the plate. He was really enjoying it, so he figured his friend would probably love it too, right?

Okuyasu scooped up a nice bite of his food with his chopsticks; it was some sort of rice and steak. "Josuke!" He called out, holding the chopsticks out for the man to bite off of, expecting his pal to get the message without many words. He was also using his other hand underneath as a cup, just in case anything spilled.

When Josuke was called out, his eyes traveled to the food in front of his face, and without any second thoughts, he leaned forward and took it all into his mouth with one big bite. He slid his lips off of the chopsticks and started chewing, a happy groan following in response. "Mhh.. so good!" Josuke exclaimed with a nod. Even though his friend shared with him, he didn't even bother considering doing the same; he just kept eating his food, completely ignoring whether Okuyasu had wanted some himself or not. 

Mostly this was out of revenge; countless times, Josuke had begged Okuyasu to share some of his food, yet he was often turned down. So, he was going to play dumb and just keep eating, holding back a cheeky grin while doing so.

The brown eyed boy was overjoyed to see his friend take his offer and happily take a bite off of his chopsticks. "I know, right!?" He responded with excitement, picking up another scoop for himself to eat while his friend finished chewing. 

His eyes wandered to the other boy's plate, though, and he found his mouth watering with curiosity. He wondered if Josuke would give him a bite. The more Okuyasu thought about it, the more he wanted it, and he eventually found himself staring at his friend's chopsticks with a slight pout as he thought about whether he should say anything, oblivious to the cruelty at play on his friend's part.

"What?" Josuke bluntly asked his friend, acting as if he didn't already know. "Somethin' wrong?" He added cheekily as he observed his food, acting once again as if he were looking for something specific that Okuyasu could be eyeballing. 

Of course, he knew he wanted him to share as well, but he definitely wasn't going to let him have his way so easily; it was way too fun to tease his buddy. Josuke's gaze moved back to the other man's, and with a raised brow, he stared him down. 'He's like a little dog sometimes,' he thought to himself, trying to keep the grin out of his face with every fiber of his being.

As soon as he was addressed, Okuyasu averted his eyes back to his own plate awkwardly. He didn't intend to be caught staring, but now that he had been, it was as good a time as any to bring up wanting a bite, right? 

"No- Nothin!.. Just- yours looks good too..." He said sheepishly as he brought his eyes up to meet Josuke's for a moment and then just as quickly settled them on his friend's plate yet again, a pout still evident in his face.

"Is that so? Hmm.. yeah, it's good!" Josuke playfully spoke, grinning at his best friend. He just couldn't keep his muscles from responding any longer, but that didn't stop him from teasing him just some more. A small whine escaped Okuyasu’s lips as he listened to his friend confirm how good the food tasted. Now he really, really wanted to try some. When he saw the smile spread across his pal's face, he had to whine again. "Why you laughin’ at me!?" He pouted, eyeballing the boy's food still. 

"You want some, Oku?" He cheekily spoke as he started to pick up some food with his chopsticks, slowly holding them out for his best friend to bite into, though he was clearly ready to pull back just before he'd even get close to tasting. Josuke grinned and awaited the timing of when he was going to pull away, holding back his laughter even more now than before.

The scarred boy’s spirits were instantly lifted when the other male seemingly got the message, or so Okuyasu thought. The pout left his face as he saw the chopsticks dance around the plate and scoop up the delicious morsels. He nodded with excitement as he heard Josuke ask just what he wanted to hear. He didn't even verbally reply; he figured the nod was enough, so he just went for it and went to take his bite. 

Or maybe not? Confusion shot through the younger man as he bit down on nothing. Well, not nothing; he actually bit his tongue, which resulted in a slight crunch noise and a bit of blood. "Owww! JOSUKE!" He whined, putting his hand over his mouth for a moment. He honestly wasn't too upset about the fact that he bit his tongue, the 'ow' was just a reaction. He was very upset that his friend had tricked him. "Why do ya gotta be like that to me!" He whined.

Josuke burst out into laughter, dropping the food back into the box. He knew he'd be able to pull this off easily with Okuyasu; he was quite gullible, and even if he probably overdid it, he couldn't keep himself from often preying upon it. Josuke couldn't even really reply because of his laughter; his hands were holding his stomach by now. 

Okuyasu could feel the anger boiling in him as he heard his friend burst out into laughter. "Yer such a meanie, Josuke!" He whined out, giving his friend a few hard smacks on the arm as he laughed at Okuyasu's misfortune.

"S-sorry! I just had to do it!" He finally managed to reply in between laughs, wiping tears from his eyes. As soon as he calmed down a little, his attention was pulled to Okuyasu's mouth—his tongue, in fact. 

He let out another whine at Josuke's half-assed apology and crossed his arms. "I'll forgive ya only for two bites now." He pouted, looking angrily at the ground as he wiped some blood off of his lip. Without any more words from him, Josuke summoned Crazy Diamond and almost instantly started healing his friend's injury as if it were automatic. 

Okuyasu let out a relieved sigh as the Stand healed him up; as much as he didn't really care, the pain was still irritating him a bit. "Thanks, big guy" he said to the Stand, shooting a sharp glare Josuke's way, though. 

Despite it not even taking more than a few seconds, the Stand didn't seem to leave like he wanted it to. Josuke raised a brow and stared it down, confusion creeping upon him once more. Crazy Diamond just grabbed Okuyasu's face, sandwiching it between his hands, and stared at his mouth, opening it with one of his thumbs. He was taken entirely off guard by this, though. The spirits’ strong hands cupped around his face were firm yet gentle. He started to ask, "Wha-" but was cut off by the pastel stand shoving fingers into his mouth. It attentively observed each inch of the boy's mouth, making very sure that it had been fixed properly. Mostly out of confusion, he let Crazy Diamond do his thing for a moment until he heard Josuke pipe up again, and he knew for sure that this had to be it acting on its own again.

"Ey, Crazy D! What are you doing?!" Josuke exclaimed as a weird feeling on his fingers started to form, as if he could almost feel the wetness from his buddy’s mouth. It definitely felt wrong to look at; it was wrong to look at. Crazy Diamond, though didn't mind Josuke at all and just kept paying its full attention to Okuyasu, awaiting his reassurance before he'd leave him alone.

Confused, Okuyasu lifted his hand to tug at the Stand's arm to get him to ease up on the search, so he could speak. Once Crazy Diamond was out of his mouth, he had to laugh a bit as he said, "Ya fixed it, dude, what's goin on?"

"Dora..!" the stand responded, almost having an upset tone to its voice, however that was possible. His eyes shot over to Josuke, glaring at him when he then pointed at Okuyasu. "Dora!" he exclaimed, and Josuke was absolutely dumbfounded. 

Okuyasu was entirely dumbfounded, along with his friend, by the situation that was unfolding before him. He had never seen a stand seemingly argue with its user before. But then again, he didn't know that many stand users personally to begin with, so there might be a chance that it wasn’t that unusual? Either way, it was such a weird situation for Okuyasu. Not bad, though, he definitely didn't hate the way his friends Stand acted towards him. He just didn't understand what was happening, mostly. 

"W-what..?" Josuke asked in confusion as he tried to figure out just what his Stand could be wanting from him. His eyes kept moving between Okuyasu and Crazy Diamond, a frown building on his face. "Dora..!" it exclaimed once more, now shaking its head slightly this time. Josuke scoffed at his own spirit in response, crossing his arms in annoyance. 

"He's fine! Why are you acting like this?!" he asked, now pointing at Okuyasu himself. It was almost as if he was being scolded by his Stand for having hurt him, though how would that work? How come Crazy D is arguing with Josuke, his own user?! Josuke was at a complete loss and realized how weird he felt inside; he was confused, yet he felt his stand's worry and upset feelings too, even if muted. 

Okuyasu had to let out a slight chuckle at the way the Stand shook its head at its user, listening to Josuke try to reason with his own soul for a moment before piping up himself, also addressing the stand. "We were just playing, buddy. Like how we always do. I’m not mad anymore!" He reassured the spirit, hoping it would calm him down some. 

Now it dawned on Josuke that this might be more serious than he thought; he really wanted to talk to Jotaro now and ask why in the world this was happening to him. It never happened before, so why now? Crazy Diamond turned back to Okuyasu and patted his shoulder as if trying to console him, patting away his discomfort.

A smile crept up on Okuyasu's lips as he felt the Stand yet again lay his hand down on him. It really was something that he found to be adorable, and he enjoyed it too. He wasn't afraid to admit that; to him, it wasn't even weird. He laid his hand on top of the stands for a moment, giving it a reassuring squeeze, before letting go again and looking back at Josuke. “Dude, how did ya make him SO upset?"

A shiver ran down Josuke's spine at the touch he felt through his Stand, but he decided to ignore that for now. "I didn't do nothin'! I dunno why he's so dramatic lately!" he protested as he glared down at their hands touching, gulping at it. Crazy Diamond just let out another soft 'Dora', before nodding at Okuyasu and dissipating into thin air, as he used to do when asked.

"Apparently ya did do somethin’. He seems to think so." Okuyasu said with a small laugh, smiling at the stand as he faded away into nothing again.

Finally, whenever his spirit was recalled, a big sigh left Josuke's lips, and the boy finally felt like he could breathe again. "Jeez.. What the hell? This is so weird, man! I gotta call Jotaro 'bout this," Josuke said irritatedly, and even though he said he was going to talk to his nephew, he picked up his chopsticks again and kept eating, a frown lingering on his face. 

He really didn't even know where to start with this topic, especially knowing how dismissive Jotaro could be at times, so he pushed it off for later. Josuke's eyes stayed fixated on his food, not even going up once more to his friend's, as he just felt awkward and even somewhat embarrassed at his Stand's behavior. He really didn't get how Okuyasu wasn't totally weirded out by this, but maybe that was just because of his personality.

Okuyasu truly thought that the whole thing was pretty funny; it's not like Crazy D was hurting anyone or anything, so he didn't see an actual issue with it. But he could tell for some reason that his friend was acting kind of awkward about it whenever his stand did stuff like this, so he didn't press and just agreed. Yeah, I wonder what he's gonna say.." 

He was actually curious too, probably not as much as Josuke but it did prick at his mind a little. It was easily forgotten about, though, as he saw the other pick up his chopsticks again. "Oi! You still owe me a bite!" He called out, aggressively pointing to the food again.

"Ah, shut up, Oku!" Josuke replied as he turned around, back facing his friend now. He wasn't actually upset; he was just in one of those 'I'm-too-proud-for-my-own-good’ moods, which was hard to get out of at times. Josuke just kept eating and grumbling while he acted like he was ignoring his friend. 

He knew he acted like a kid sometimes, but he couldn't help it; his pride was hurt, and he just had to be grumpy about it. Okuyasu wasn't wrong, he did seem to have done something to upset his Stand and even if he didn't want to admit it, he had a pretty good idea as to what that was. But why would it care so much?! They always played rough with each other, why was Crazy Diamond so overprotective of Okuyasu anyway? Josuke's mind raced with weird thoughts as he kept shoveling the food into his mouth.

"You shuddup!" Okuyasu shot back, setting his plate down and giving his friend a light yet firm kick on the back. "Gimme a bite!" He demanded, landing a few more soft kicks on the boy's lower back. He wasn't hitting him hard—not enough to hurt, at least. But surely enough to jostle the boy around and annoy him, which was his goal.

He wasn't even thinking about what just happened anymore; he just wanted a taste of Josuke's food, finally! He was done being teased! And he knew just how to break through to his friend; by annoying him. "Josukeeeeeee!" He whined again, determined to get a bite out of that plate.

With each kick, Josuke's patience shrank more and more. It didn't hurt; it just made eating very hard, and he kept dropping his food constantly. "ALRIGHT! Alright!!" he finally gave up as he turned around again and faced his friend once more, a frown forming on his face that didn't last long, though. Okuyasu smiled triumphantly at his efforts as his friend yelled in defeat. That smile was not fading a bit as the other turned to face him. Oh, how he loved to annoy Josuke. 

Whenever he finally looked at Okuyasu, he couldn't help but chuckle at his persistence, he had to admit, it was admirable at times. Josuke reached out his food, which by now was only half full if anything, and offered his buddy to take as much as he wanted. "Here, happy?" he asked with a scoff, mostly at himself. 

Okuyasu and Josuke's friendship may seem odd to others, but that's just how they were, and they didn't mind it one single bit. In fact, Josuke didn't feel closer to anyone else but the scarred boy; yes, he did have other very good friends like Koichi, but Okuyasu was just different, he thought.

The younger male's dark eyes lit up as he was offered the whole plate to take from. For a split second, it crossed his mind to take as much as he could before Josuke noticed what was up, but he figured he had probably pestered the other boy enough for now and shouldn't push the limits too much, so he instead just stuck with what he had said earlier. "One for my bite and the other for my pain!" He nodded, scooping two rather large bites of Josuke's food onto his plate, chuckling in satisfaction

Once he was done, he retreated from Josuke's food and plopped down back next to his friend, leaning against him, bumping him with his shoulder a bit for a second, and saying, "Thanks!" And retreating into the food, 'mm'ing and 'ahh'ing at its flavors.

"Pff.. whatever," Josuke mumbled, pushing up against him for a second whenever he leaned against him. He felt relieved that his friend had mercy on him and didn't take all of his food, yet his pride suffered the most. But towards Okuyasu, he could handle it; had it been anyone else, he'd probably not stay this calm and collected. Josuke sat up straight again and kept eating his food, chewing and swallowing in rhythm. 

The feeling of his friend reciprocating his goofy affection just made Okuyasu's heart go wild. It felt great being with his best buddy, and he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that now that they live together, they are going to be even closer than ever. He just couldn't wipe that goofy smile off of his face, even if he wanted to. 

After a few more minutes, Josuke finally finished his and placed the box down with a big groan, leaning back with a full and content belly. "Ahh.. I'm stuffed!" he said as he rubbed his belly, literally able to feel how big it had gotten after that big of a portion. There was still food left, but right now, Josuke couldn't bring himself to take another bite. 'Maybe later', he thought to himself when he closed his eyes with a satisfied smile, enjoying the comatose feeling of a stuffed stomach.

As the other teen kept eating, he tried his hardest to ignore his stomach's begs and pleas for him to stop. He was full, but he didn't care, he wanted to taste. It wasn't until his friend spoke up again, announcing his status, that Okuyasu finally felt like he needed to throw in the towel too. "Ugh, yeah.. I've been stuffed. One more bite 'n I might puke." He agreed, setting his plate to the side and stretching out a bit as well, undoing his pants, so he didn't feel so much pressure on his belly. He then flopped down onto the floor, sprawled out like a starfish on his back, and let out a loud satisfied sigh. And with that, Okuyasu somewhat started to fall asleep there on the ground.

The older male looked over at Okuyasu, scoffing in amazement at how fast he was able to doze off. He didn't bother him, though; he looked at him for a few more seconds before lifting himself with a grunt off of the floor. Okuyasu paid no mind to his friend as he scoffed at him. He was already on his way to a sweet nap; that was one of the best things after a stuffing meal. He didn't move an inch while Josuke cleaned up after them. He honestly would've made his friend clean anyway, since he already did the labor of picking up the food. Regardless, those thoughts were too much for a tired Okuyasu, so they all just started to disappear as he legitimately fell into his nap. 

Josuke then started picking up the leftovers and all the trash they'd produced, throwing away the garbage, and placing the leftovers into the fridge for another day. After he'd finished, he slipped into the bathroom for a little while to freshen himself up, preparing himself to call Jotaro, mostly mentally. 

It's not that he didn't like the man; he just felt it was hard to explain the current situation to him. At the same time, he thought maybe Jotaro had experienced something like this before? Whether it be with Star Platinum or anyone else he witnessed this occurrence with. Only a little while later, Josuke finished up in the bathroom and exited, heading for their house phone to make the call. He stepped over Okuyasu, who was still spread out on the floor, and grabbed the phone, dialing Jotaro's number, which he'd remembered very well by now. 

'I hope he isn't busy,' the boy thought to himself as he awaited a reply, focusing on the ringing on the speaker while thinking of how to explain this bizarre situation properly.

Meanwhile, Jotaro was in his office at his home, located in Morioh. He ended up buying the place back when he needed to come clean up after his grandfather's affair and realized that the ocean biodiversity in the location was simply too good to pass up. Plus, his grandfather felt secure having him watch over Josuke if needed, since he was getting up there in age himself. And even if he would never admit it, Jotaro would do anything for his family, especially the old man. 

That's why, for once in a long while, he actually found himself disrupting his research, unable to just ignore the phone when he saw what number popped up on the tiny box. It ticked in his mind that it was the number for the phone that he had helped Josuke and Okuyasu set up about a week ago when they first got the keys for their new place. 'Josuke never calls me.. weird.' He thought to himself, raising a brow. Even though he felt somewhat perplexed, he found himself thinking, 'I wonder if the boys are okay?' As he reached for the phone. He still answered in his usual cold tone. Simply asking his young uncle, "What?"

Jotaro's words startled his uncle, but mostly he was relieved that he had picked up. "Hey, Jotaro! Do you have a bit to talk? Got some questions 'bout my Stand," Josuke then asked, straight to the point of not bothering his nephew all too much, as he knew he was busy. He was a bit nervous about the conversation, mostly because he wasn't sure what Jotaro was going to say. Was this normal? Was there a problem? He was eager and worried to find out both at the same time; regardless, he patiently awaited the other man's confirmation before he'd shoot the questions at him and explain the situation thoroughly.

His young uncle's loud voice instantly flooded the otherwise calm room, and Jotaro just had to wince a bit in response. Nonetheless, he was glad to hear that everything seemed to be alright.. sort of.. why was this kid asking stand questions right now? Jotaro huffed, standing up to stretch since he had been sitting for a while by then, and finally responded to Josuke. 

“Yeah, I've got a minute. Why are you asking about that stuff right now? Something going on?" He asked bluntly. If there was something dangerous going on, he wanted to know about it, not just tiptoe around it and somehow get the boys hurt or worse. So he just felt it was within his duties to ask first, at the very least.

"Everything's good! We're safe and all that.. It's just-" Josuke started, reassuring Jotaro, clearing up that there wasn't any danger they were in. Before he started speaking again, a small sigh left his lips. 

"-My Stand, Crazy Diamond.. it's been acting, like, on its own? Like, it will pop up out of nowhere, even tho I didn't even prompt it or anything.. Is that normal? Just askin' because this never happened to me before, like, ever.." he then rambled, trying his best to not sound like a fool in the meantime. 

"For example, earlier, Crazy Diamond came out when Okuyasu was throwing a crying fit over something stupid earlier, almost as if it was trying to.. I dunno, console him? I didn't do that, tho!" He then added, speaking far quicker than usual, as he was trying to hurry through the conversation so as not to keep Jotaro for too long.

Even if his nephew said he had time, he just felt bad keeping him for his own sake; it wasn't how he liked to handle things, but this time he didn't have much of a choice. Jotaro was pretty much the only person he knew who had this much knowledge about Stands and their behavior.

Jotaro let go of a breath that he didn't even know he had been holding in after hearing Josuke confirm that everything was fine. He tried to brush it off, though, hoping that the young man hadn't heard it at all and just continued listening. He shuffled a bit on his feet as he listened. Mostly to stretch, but also because he could already tell what direction this conversation might end up going in, and it was making him a bit uncomfortable since he knew he was very emotionally stiff. It bothered him just as much as anyone else. He wasn't particularly ever going to be in the mindset to explain the relation between a stand and the human desire, but here he was, knowing he had to for his little uncle, who he didn't even want to talk to- 'No, that's too far.' He thought to himself, shutting himself down. It's not that he didn't want to talk to Josuke. He was just feeling awkward.

It was then that he noticed just how long he had been holding his silence. It wasn't that he didn't listen; he had, he just didn't know how to respond for a while. "Uhh.. First of all, breathe and slow down, kid, you're gonna give me a headache." He groaned, pausing a moment to think. "..I guess in a way, it can be normal. It depends, I guess.. I mean, it isn't doing anything aggressive, right? What else is it doing?"

A loud sigh escaped Josuke's mouth at Jotaro's reassurance, one he didn't know he needed to let out. He thought for a while about the question he was asked. "Hm.. to give another specific example, Crazy Diamond healed Okuyasu earlier, just as normal, but it didn't disappear no matter what I said. It just.. observed Okuyasu's mouth? Because he bit his tongue! Then Crazy D stuck around and seemed mad at me for, I dunno.. having caused this?? Man, it was like it was scolding me!" Josuke explained, giving another example before rubbing his face with one hand. 

"But no, it's not.. aggressive, just.. overly dramatic? Protective? At least so far," the younger man added with another sigh, this time talking a bit slower and calmer than before. He felt really relieved that Jotaro wasn't thinking this was some sort of joke; he liked how his nephew took him seriously right now. It definitely made him feel a bit calmer at heart, his worry fading ever so slightly.

The older man took in all of this information without making a sound. In fact, he probably couldn't make one even if he wanted to for a few moments, so it was probably for the best that Josuke just rambled to his heart's content for the time being while Jotaro collected his thoughts. All of this reminded him of an all too familiar scene that unfolded with a certain cherry haired boy that he once knew. He kind of figured he wouldn't ever be in a position to talk about this with anyone else, so it took him a moment to gather himself. 

"I see.." He started, still collecting his thoughts. He didn't know how to go about explaining or asking what he wanted. Jotaro knew that he was way too direct, and as much as he outwardly didn't care, he knew deep down he didn't want to hurt the boy's feelings or make him uncomfortable. "Well, basically, in the same way that we feel what they feel in a fight.. they also feel what we do, too. Like, emotionally, you know? They're connected to us like that... You must have a REALLY strong emotional connection to Okuyasu, then, right?" Jotaro cringed at his own words, unsure of how they sounded. To him, it all just sounded awkward and stiff. He wasn't even sure if he was going about this the right way. Only time will tell, he figured.

Josuke raised a brow and leaned against the wall as he attentively listened to Jotaro's explanation. For a second, he stayed silent, thoughts racing through his head as he tried to connect the dots. 

"Well, yeah, he's my best friend-" Josuke agreed with a nod, though he wasn't sure why now of all times Crazy Diamond acted up. "-But he's been for a while, plus this never happened to anyone else.. not even with mom," he added, kind of mumbling that last part. Josuke cleared his throat and sighed once more. He really appreciated Jotaro taking his time to tell him about this, but this talk seemed to be going down a path that neither of them wanted to be in. 

"Anyway, it's normal then, right? Nothing's wrong or anything?" The boy asked to steer the conversation into a more theoretical sense rather than an emotional one. Josuke bit his lip impatiently as he awaited that last confirmation that'd send his worries away, even if it was still quite annoying having to deal with his spirit behaving this way.

Jotaro’s brows furrowed in frustration as he listened to his uncle obliviously stumble through his reasoning and miss the point he was trying to make. He wasn't particularly frustrated with Josuke, more so with himself and his inability to just be able to explain things without them being weird. "Uh, yeah. Sometimes that can happen with people.. you might wanna start reevaluating how you feel about him." He suggested, bluntly, feeling grateful as the boy seemed to move on to another question. No, nothing's wrong with it per se. It just might become an issue for you, specifically if it gets to the point that you can't control it at all anymore. Try not to ignore what it wants. It is your soul, after all."

The question marks in Josuke's head just multiplied because of Jotaro's words, he didn't quite understand what he meant by the 'reevaluating' part, but he didn't want to ask any further either. 

"Mhm.. sure, thanks, Jotaro. If it does anything dangerous or whatever, can I call again?" Josuke asked before he'd end the conversation, just making sure that he'd have his nephew's backup just in case, though he knew he always did anyway. Josuke was going to have to see if he could come to some sort of agreement with his soul. They didn't seem to be on the same page after hearing Jotaro's explanation, at least that's what he took from it.

Jotaro was realizing now that he probably fumbled big, and it didn't seem like Josuke really understood what he was saying. "Yare yare," He mumbled under his breath, mostly directly to himself. He let out a sigh as he heard the boy start finishing up, feeling somewhat guilty for not helping the right way, but at the same time glad it was over. "You know you can always call me when you need anything." He confirmed, and he meant it. Even if he sounded grumpy and unimpressed, he was going to be there for his uncle if he needed him. "You need anything else?" He asked after another momentary pause, wondering if there was another way he could've handled this situation.

"Naah, I'm good, thanks," Josuke replied carelessly, only giving it one more thought before blowing him off. "Alright, I won't keep ya any longer-" The male started speaking before clearing his throat again. "-I'll see ya around, bye!" Josuke finished up and just hung up on him, hoping he didn't want to say anything else. 

"Alright, see ya." Jotaro responded to the young man, and almost as fast, the line was already disconnected. He let out a loud sigh, rubbing his forehead a bit as he set the phone back in place. He couldn't believe this was a conversation that was actually happening between them and that Jotaro was having to navigate it without the other being fully aware of what it even meant. Yeah, he could probably be direct like he usually is, but he didn't think it would be okay to just tell his uncle, 'I think you might actually be gay for your best friend, so he just did what he felt was best. Whatever, it wasn’t his problem anymore for now. He knew it would likely happen again in the near future, but for now he had sea urchins to research. 

Josuke didn't mean to be rude to his nephew or anything; he just felt like this conversation was a bit too awkward for both him and Jotaro, so he wanted it to end. Maybe they could talk about this again in person; he found it a bit easier talking to Jotaro when he could actually see how he'd react rather than just hear his bothered voice through the distorted phone speaker. 

With a big sigh, Josuke placed the phone back in its usual spot and rubbed his face. 'Reevaluate how I feel? What's that even mean?' He thought to himself with a shrug; perhaps he could see if Crazy Diamond would give him more clues as to what that meant. 

"Whatever.." he mumbled to himself before turning towards his friend, who was still sleeping soundly on the floor, not even moving an inch. Josuke walked up to him and kneeled down, pinching his nose shut. "Oi, wakey, wakey!" he teased Okuyasu, still pinching his nose, so he'd get his attention.

Chapter Text

Okuyasu was snoring softly on the floor. All comfortable and fat in his little food coma. Blissfully unaware of what was to come. Suddenly, when his air was blocked, he sat up fast with a snorting gasp, looking around him half asleep, The Hand lazily materializing behind him out of a fear response. Once he noticed who it was, he relaxed back down, groggily asking, "What the fuck?", with sleep in his voice.

A laugh slipped out of Josuke's mouth, his eyes shooting up at Okuyasu's Stand. "Hi buddy, did I startle ya?" He asked playfully, actually being somewhat happy to see it. Okuyasu didn't bring it out that often; it's surely been a while, he thought.

"You slept forever, man, get up," Josuke teased his friend, pushing him slightly as he got up out of his kneeling position and stretched his legs again. Of course, he exaggerated how long Okuyasu had slept, but the both of them tended to do that anyway; they were both fairly impatient sometimes.

The Hand looked around the room calmly. It hadn't been out for a few days, since he had a habit of accidentally erasing stuff. He was getting way better at that, though. It just didn't help that Okuyasu had pretty poor control over the Stand to begin with when not in a fight, so there were still a few accidents to be had sometimes. Okuyasu didn't recall him immediately, though. Sometimes he saw the thing like a pet, so he felt kind of guilty for not allowing it some time out of.. wherever it went when it was recalled.

Josuke watched The Hand, thinking to himself, 'I wonder if Okuyasu will ever have to deal with such problems..' as he placed one of his hands on his hip, sighing to himself once more before shaking the thought.

The pouty Stand made its way towards Josuke and lifted its non-erasing hand, letting out a low grumble as it reached out to mimic the blue-eyed boy's behavior, shaking its master slightly. "Yeah, I know, I'm tryin" he responded to both of them, particularly his friend. "And no, I slept for like two blinks. It was a nap!" He defended himself, pointing up at the clock on the wall. His Stand now sat behind him, mimicking that movement instead.

"That's forever!" Josuke protested jokingly as he resumed watching the Stand now. He then walked over to the window, opening it to help his friend wake up some more. "The day's still long. Don't spend it sleeping, lazybones," he teased when he leaned against the window, looking out at the scenery.

The younger man couldn't think of a clever remark, so he just resorted to quietly mocking Josuke with a goofy face as he stood up all the way and stretched. Josuke was right, though; he wanted to spend the day with his buddy; there was no time for napping!

It was still unusual for Josuke to look out his window and have a different view than before, but he liked it. He was happy that things were progressing in their favor; nothing was really going against them. "I called Jotaro-" Josuke then said out of nowhere, figuring he'd tell his friend about the conversation he shared with him. He'd rather get it out of the way than have to drag it on, hoping maybe Okuyasu could give his input on the topic too.

The Hand, still aimlessly wandering about enjoying its free time, was somewhat following Josuke around out of interest, poking its head outside the window once it opened. Okuyasu paid it no mind, though, since for him, he never kept a tight leash on his stand to begin with. They were kind of like an untrained dog with a clueless owner, but they made it work. His interest piqued instantly as soon as he heard what else the other had mentioned. "Oh yea? And what? Is something wrong with Crazy D?" He asked, raising a brow at his friend before walking towards the fridge to get a drink, still listening.

Josuke looked over at The Hand, giving it a small smile as it checked out what he was doing. "Don't think so.. Jotaro said it could happen. He said something 'bout emotional connections or somethin'? And that I shouldn't ignore what it wants or whatever," he tried explaining, though he did so only halfheartedly. The Hand simply let out a deep warble at the brief attention it received from Josuke. It then continued to stare out the window, most likely watching people.

He still knew Okuyasu was going to get the gist of it regardless, so he wasn't even worried at all, not like when he talked to his nephew. "I dunno, he said I should 'reevaluate how I feel', like, what the fuck does that even mean?" he added, gesturing with his hands, clueless. Josuke was actually very sure of how he felt; he had never not been in tune with himself, and he really had no idea what Jotaro was implying, and he especially didn't know what Crazy Diamond could be wanting from him.

"I have no clue what the fuck he's on about, dude. Did you ask?" The scarred man inquired, raising a brow. He genuinely had no idea what the others' nephew could've been implying. He wasn't even sure where to start with what he was proposing. What part of that does he grasp onto?

Okuyasu was listening to the best of his ability. He wasn't sure if he really understood, but luckily, it didn't seem like Josuke really knew what the hell he was talking about either, so maybe it was fine. He quickly chugged down a whole can of orange-flavored sparkling water and used his Stand to just swipe the trash into who knows where out of habit.

"..No, I didn't. I already felt bad taking his time, y'know?" Josuke answered as he turned to Okuyasu, crossing his arms in the process. "Whatever, the point was that he said it's fine, right? So I won't worry about it no more!" He then protested, shaking his head, his hair bouncing with the movement.

This was all too much thinking for the blue-eyed male; he had never had to deal with this type of problem before, so he was reluctant to even start. "Anyway, if Crazy D does something weird, and I dunno about it, just tell me, okay?" Josuke then addressed his friend, giving him a serious look. He wasn't sure if that was even possible, but he wanted to be totally sure of anything; he didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt by his Stand.

Okuyasu nodded as he listened and confirmed, "Yeah, I don't think I could ask either; dude's scary." It was the truth too; he liked Jotaro; he was cool even. But he still found the man extremely intimidating, so he really understood the other boy's reluctance to ask, regardless of their familial ties.

"But ya, sure. Like you said, Jotaro said it should be fine, right? So what's the worst that could happen?" He agreed, pretty carelessly at that. He genuinely didn't think there would be an issue arising from this situation. With that, Okuyasu also recalled his Stand, since he didn't really feel like making sure it didn't ruin anything for the time being.

A clap of the older male’s hands signaled the end of this conversation. "Good, then that's settled!" he happily exclaimed, his eyes focused on the Stand being recalled. "So, what's the plan? Anything fun in mind?" Josuke then asked excitedly while he walked over to Okuyasu and rested his arm on his shoulder. He was surely a bit exhausted from the day already, but this was just the beginning of a new chapter in their lives! He didn't want it to go to waste, and he wanted to spend every second of it to its fullest potential.

"Hmm" Okuyasu pondered for a moment, thinking about what he wanted to do. They only had a few more weeks until school would start up again, so he really didn't want to waste that time. He wanted to have lots of fun with his best bro. His excitement only grew as he felt the touch of his friend on his shoulder, and he felt a smile creeping up on his face. He couldn't really think of anything particular to do, though, so he just laid out a suggestion he always found useful. "We could always just go out and walk about til we find somethin' fun, like always? Unless ya have something in mind?"

"Nope, sounds good," Josuke instantly agreed, shaking his head at the question. He figured they'd find something, as always, whenever they strolled through Morioh. Josuke let go of his friend and headed to the door, checking his pockets for his keys before he slipped into his shoes and opened the front door. Before he headed out, he waited for Okuyasu to follow behind, so he could lock the door instead of Okuyasu.

"Sweet!" Okuyasu chimed in, slipping his jacket and everything back on before following his friend out the door. He was pretty convinced that even if they hadn't found anything to do specifically, they would still manage to have fun. They always did. That was one of the things Okuyasu loved the most about his best friend—how he could make any situation exciting and worth being in!

While they aimed for the exit of the building, the taller male took a closer look at his new surroundings, taking note of anything that caught his attention. After all, this was his new living space; it'd always be better to be aware of any blind spots of some sort, just in case, he thought.

Okuyasu, though, was a bit more carefree, strolling nonchalantly down the halls with his hands in his pockets and taking wide strides. His mind stayed pretty empty until they reached the outside again, and he felt the warm glow of the sun hit his skin. He had to take an appreciative deep breath, followed by a loud sigh, after taking in the fresh air. "Which direction do ya wanna take?" He groaned out through a large stretch, still somewhat recovering from his recent nap.

For a second, Josuke stayed quiet and pondered. "Let's go this way." He then pointed to his left and started walking, fixing some loose strands of hair that tickled his face. He didn't have a specific destination, but he figured certain parts of town ought to be more interesting than others, so he headed there.

The scarred boy nodded and followed along after his friend, grinning a bit at the boy's seemingly never-ending grooming display. 'Always playin' with yer hair every other time I look at ‘cha, so damn cute,' he found himself affectionately thinking, yet he paid no mind to it really. To him, it wasn't a weird thing to think. There were tons of things he found cute about Josuke, and there had been for a while. That's how you can tell he's his best friend, right?

After a bit of silence, Josuke decided to ask, "Oku, how do you think Koichi's doing?". Their friend was currently in Italy, and as much as they knew that he could handle himself without a problem, Josuke still couldn't help but worry and wonder at times. He also missed hanging out with him, and it felt nice to quench that by talking about him with Okuyasu, who felt the same way.

He was pulled out of his thoughts again as he heard his friend speak up about a topic that had been on his mind as well lately, but he tried to remain optimistic about it. "Hm, I bet he's doing great!" Okuyasu stated confidently with a firm nod. "I know he was kinda nervous, but he always is at first, and he always pulls through great. Plus, he gets to try all that yummy Italian food. That's a win."

A reassured laugh escaped Josuke's lips. "That's right, lucky guy." He smiled at the thought of Koichi eating all kinds of delicious Italian cuisine. Even if he knew Koichi had most likely been fine, it was always pleasant to hear Okuyasu confirm his thoughts once more anyway.

"I wonder if he met any cute girls.." Josuke said jokingly, poking Okuyasu's side with his elbow and a wink. He was well aware that Koichi had been in a relationship, yet it was always fun to tease and joke around, even if he wasn't around to hear it.

Okuyasu had to grin wickedly at the idea. "Bro, for sure, Italian ladies' threes are OUR ladies’ eights. He ain't running outta eye candy." He followed up with a nasty chuckle, nudging his friend back playfully before adding, "He better not let Yukako know about that part of the trip."

After a few more minutes of walking, they'd arrived in a somewhat more busy area, mostly due to the many shops that were located here. There were multiple clothing stores, many restaurants, a few local businesses, and whatnot. Josuke always enjoyed window shopping, mostly because he didn't have much money to spend, but regardless, it was fun to try on potential clothes he could buy someday. So, the older male headed to a very familiar clothing store that he liked to look around at; sometimes, when he had the money, he'd even get something.

As they made their way down town, the aromas of the street vendors and sounds of life filled his senses, and Okuyasu felt so much joy to be able to experience this moment with his buddy. Even if his buddy seemed to be heading off in the direction of a store, Okuyasu knew he probably couldn't afford. "Oi, Where ya goin', bro?" He called out playfully with a raised brow.

"I wanna check out what new stuff they got," Josuke replied as he opened the door to the store, holding it open for his friend.

"'Check out'" the billion boy mocked playfully, throwing up a goofy face and air quotes as he walked closely behind his friend to the entrance, giving him an appreciative nod as he walked through the door he held.

"You'll help a bro out, right?" Josuke added with a grin, implying that Okuyasu is going to have to play judge for his dress-up game. He always liked dressing himself; sometimes he could even put Okuyasu in a fun outfit. It was always refreshing to see his friend in a new light. Not that he didn't like his simplicity, but it surely did add a new flavor to Okuyasu, which he enjoyed teasing him with.

Okuyasu rolled his eyes in protest at the question he was asked and sarcastically replied, "I dunno, what's in it fer me?" Though, of course, he would do it. That much should be obvious, he hoped. Deep down, he really loved doing this stuff with Josuke. He loved seeing his friend happy trying on all these new outfits, and he had fun playing judge. He even really enjoyed it when Josuke dressed him up. It made him feel really close to the blue-eyed boy.

Josuke laughed proudly at Okuyasu's previous question. "What do ya mean? Ya get to see me in hot clothes! Should be more than enough," he cheekily replied, jokingly tossing a non-existent lock of hair over his shoulder. He then entered the store, the little bell atop the door ringing in response, and was immediately greeted by the staff. He just waved and headed for his favorite section, his eyes instantly sparkling with joy upon eyeing the new products and leaving his buddy behind to process this choice in his haste.

Even being left behind, Okuyasu knew just what section his friend would go to and didn't hesitate to autopilot to the aisle. He found Josuke already admiring an article of clothing. And as soon as the older boy noticed him, he shoved the pair of pants he was holding right into Okuyasu’s face, excitedly squealing out, "Woooah, dude! Look at these!"

Okuyasu just had to smile at his friend's eagerness, the fire in his eyes as he looked at the clothing, and that oh-so-fucking adorable sparkle he got when he found something he REALLY liked. And that's exactly what Okuyasu knew he would be faced with after he pushed the clothes away from his face to get a better look. "Ah, they look alright," he said plainly. In all honesty, they weren't his favorite thing, plus he was more distracted by the happiness beaming off of his buddy.

The scarred boy's reaction couldn't have been more plain, in Josuke’s opinion, earning a small pout from the older boy, though it left as soon as it appeared when he moved on to check out the other clothes the store had to offer. Okuyasu honestly expected a more explosive reaction from the tease than what he actually received. But to his surprise, the other had just shrugged it off and moved on rather quickly. But Okuyasu wanted more of a response, so he furthered the jest with, "Don't worry, you'll find better taste." But it was deemed to have fallen on deaf ears anyway; his friend was already too entranced by the products before him.

"Dude, why am I poor?! This is all soo cool!" Josuke whined as he now stared down a shirt that very well suited the previous pair of pants he was admiring.

Okuyasu did, however, have to agree with Josuke wholeheartedly about the shirt he was looking at. "WOAH" he beamed, picking up the sleeve and looking at it alongside his buddy. "Bro, isn't yer dad like.. a fuckin' bazillionare or whatever? Why can't he just give ya a card or somethin'," he suggested with a shrug as they moved along.

The blue-eyed boy kept looking through more clothes, trying to match up certain ones to create outfits that appealed to his taste, but only ended up grabbing a few, which he held out for Okuyasu to grab. "Mom banks it all.. to save it up." Josuke pouted at that thought, though he knew it was definitely the wiser decision. He still felt somewhat disappointed that he couldn't just buy whatever he wanted, which is why he quenched his thirst by trying it on with his buddy. All Okuyasu had to say about the money topic was a disappointed groan at the knowledge that he knew it was pointless if it was in the hands of Josuke's mother. Not much they could do about that then.

As per usual, Josuke was going to use him as his personal carrier, whether Okuyasu liked it or not. "Want me to pick you an outfit?" Josuke grinned at his buddy, raising his eyebrows in rhythm. He was going to do it regardless, but if there was something his friend wanted to try out in particular, he was happy to use that as a baseline.

Okuyasu narrowed his eyes a bit as he saw the blue-eyed boy holding clothes out for him to hold, not bothering to protest as much as he wanted to since he knew it was useless. He just accepted fate and grabbed the clothes, draping them over his arms as he continued to follow his friend through the store. His spirits were lifted, though, when he saw his friend's goofy antics as he tried to get Okuyasu to agree to try on some clothes. Which he was underlying excited for, yes, but also knew he would end up doing even if he disagreed, so he may as well go with a theme he wanted. "Hmm.. pick me out somethin' flashy!"

Upon hearing Okuyasu's reply, Josuke's eyes lit up, his grin widening into a bright smile. "Gotcha, bro! You're gonna look awesome!" He cheered as he ran off into a different aisle, leaving Okuyasu behind without a second thought. He grabbed a few brightly colored pants—something that'd fit his friend's eye color and make them pop—as well as a few shirts that would pair nicely with them.

The younger boy's excitement jumped again as he heard his friend confirm that he was going to do his best to find a great outfit. He giggled, giving Josuke a thumbs up as he disappeared, who knows where. Okuyasu knew that it would probably be kind of hard to track him down, so he just stayed put, looking at some clothes where Josuke had left him standing, pulling a few things out, and adding them to his buddy's pile since he thought they would look good on him.

Josuke was in his element, and he didn't stop at just clothes; he rushed toward a few accessories he could decorate Okuyasu with as well, such as chains and a flashy belt he found fitting. After a few minutes of running around the store, he went back to his buddy and happily held out the clothes he had picked for him. "Let's try 'em on!" Josuke called out as he headed towards the changing rooms and waited for Okuyasu to follow along so they could exchange their outfits.

Okuyasu was startled but excited to hear his friend return, jumping a bit at the sudden voice. He followed along happily, chuckling as they approached the rooms. "I picked a few things for ya too!" He proudly announced it, knowing very well that his fashion sense wasn't nearly up to par with Josuke's, but he didn't care; he thought it was still fun.

"Nice! Thanks!" Josuke happily cheered; he was excited to see the newly added clothes he could try out, even if they may not be what he'd pick himself. Once he arrived at the stalls, the first thing Okuyasu did was open one of the doors and hang up the clothes he had in his arm since they were getting a bit heavy before ducking out to check that his buddy was ready too. Josuke did the same as his friend. He rushed into his designated stall with a smile and placed the clothes in a pile. He then closed the door behind him and excitedly picked up some items, checking them out once more. The younger male was happy to see his friend's excitement as he pranced off into the stall and locked the door. Okuyasu had to let out a little chuckle as he did the same. He liked looking nice, yeah, but he wasn't usually the type to just go to the store and dress up for fun. But still, somehow he found it to be a great time when he did it with Josuke.

"I can't wait to put these on!" Josuke mumbled to himself as he started to undress, rushing through the motion and almost tripping himself while doing so. Luckily, it didn't take long for him to be down to his underwear, as he then put on a pretty shirt, unusual from the colors he typically wore, adding the pants as well. He loved how the fabric felt on his skin, and he bit his lip in excitement so as not to let out any unwanted cheers.

When it came to his looks, Josuke could be quite dramatic, but that's what made it so enjoyable, he thought. 'I wonder how far Okuyasu is,' Josuke thought to himself as he finished up closing the zipper located on the pants, then checked himself out in the mirror. He fixed his hair in the meantime too, which suffered some due to the shirt he carefully tried to put on, though it didn't matter with this hairstyle too much. It was bound to end up with some loose strands here and there, but he was willing to deal with that.

In Okuyasu’s stall, he quickly undressed himself and carefully set his clothes down using an extra hanger that was in the room. He then picked up one of the outfits that he thinks Josuke intended to wear together and started layering it on, cursing under his breath a bit as he couldn't really figure out how to get into the clothes at some points. He heard his friend's lock click as he was nearly finishing, so he tried to pick up the speed a bit, but it honestly probably messed him up more than anything in the long run.

Whenever he found his hair acceptable, Josuke smiled proudly into the mirror, opening the door back up again and rushing out, checking himself out in a bigger mirror located next to the stalls. He looked fantastic. Okuyasu didn't seem to be out just yet, and as he couldn't locate him, he wasn't surprised if it took him longer to get dressed due to all the little things Josuke picked out for him. During his wait, he posed in front of the mirror, his grin widening at his excitement.

"Oku!! Hurry, you gotta see these!" He rushed his friend impatiently as he kept his eyes pinned on his reflection. Josuke wasn't obsessed with himself; he just enjoyed looking fancy, and he knew he wasn't ugly. The new clothes certainly boosted his ego, though, making it seem like he was absolutely full of himself at times.

The younger male decided it was good enough when he heard his friend calling out for him. "Ya, I'm comin'!" He yelled back as he tried his best to straighten out the outfit before unlocking and opening his door and stepping out to find his friend, doing a 'ta-da' motion even though his outfit was put on a bit untidily.

As soon as Josuke heard Okuyasu's stall open, he turned around with shimmering eyes. For a moment, he couldn't even recognize his friend; he looked very different from before, but very fabulous. He stayed quiet for a moment before he stepped closer to Okuyasu, his eyes darting from one spot to another, investigating every inch of the scarred boy's body. "W-woah!! Oku!!" Josuke cheered before he punched his buddy's shoulder out of excitement.
"You look awesome-" he started to add before he noticed that the way Okuyasu had put on the clothes could be tweaked a little, which Josuke didn't hesitate to do. He stepped a bit closer and adjusted the shirt his friend was wearing, tucking it into his pants without any second thoughts. "-There, now you look awesome!" Josuke grinned happily as he stepped back to look at Okuyasu's entire new-look once more, clapping his hands and whistling jokingly in response.

For a brief moment, Okuyasu couldn't tell if he was blushing or not when he saw the way his friend was staring at him. If he was, he was just going to blame it on the struggle of getting in the clothes, not the fact that he was slightly flattered by his pals' attention and compliments. He chuckled a little at the praise and the punch. He did appreciate it as well when Josuke took it upon himself to fix the outfit up a bit, so he allowed him to do so without any protest.

Josuke was glad that his friend was willing to do this with him. Koichi never really joined him on these types of activities, so it was even more special to him that Okuyasu did. "So, how do you like it? Did I pick good stuff?" Josuke asked, his eyes still full of passion.

After his friend stepped back, Okuyasu stepped towards the mirror so that he could get a better look at himself, and he even had to smile hugely as he responded to his friend. "Bro, it looks sick!! You always pick the best stuff." He beamed, throwing an arm around his friend and pulling him close for a momentary squeeze before letting him go just as fast.

"Of course I do!" Josuke replied proudly, puffing out his chest as he also wrapped an arm back around him. For a moment, they stayed like that, but Okuyasu hadn't given his review of his outfit yet, so he parted from him just as fast and cleared his throat.

"Sooo, what about me? Fancy, huh?" Josuke asked as he theatrically posed in front of his friend as if he were about to have a photoshoot. He knew that his outfit looked great, but having affirmation never hurt anybody; it'd just boost his ego just a little more, which he very much enjoyed.

The scarred boy's dark eyes widened as he stepped back from their hug to take in the view of his friend. He had to admit that the sight made his heart flutter a bit. He did think the clothes looked very attractive on his friend. "Looks hot, dude, you'd be pullin' any lady you want in that!" He laughed, coming to stand behind Josuke in the mirror to admire their looks together.

"I really like this, man! Someday, I'ma buy us anything we want!" Josuke then whined once more as he looked at himself in the mirror again, still admiring his dressing skills.

"It is really cool, I mean, some day ya can, right? Doctors make bank, don't they?" Okuyasu suggested, laying a hand on the taller boy's shoulder. The younger man felt good hyping his friend up like this; he loved to see Josuke so full of pride. Okuyasu was certainly proud of him too; he hoped he made that clear, even if he never really directly said it.

Josuke just proudly rubbed his nose in response to Okuyasu's compliments. "Yeah, can't wait for it!" he cheered before turning back to face his friend and heading for the stall again. "Wanna go again, or are ya done?" he asked with a raised brow.

He knew he could very well be doing this all day, but he wanted to do many more things, as well as something Okuyasu suggested, since he was always going along with what he wanted. "We can still go somewhere else," he added to make sure Okuyasu wasn't forced to stay here with him and play dress-up all day long, not that he'd do that anyway. It sure was fun to try on all the things, but at some point his heart couldn't handle the fact he wasn't allowed to take anything with him, so he had to take breaks in between to recover.

Okuyasu waved his hands dismissively a bit at Josuke's suggestion that they could stop already. He was having fun, and he knew Josuke was too, so he wanted to stay until his pal was satisfied. "Nah, we still got more stuff to try on. Otherwise, why'd ya spend so much time lookin' around?" He replied with a smug smile, turning back towards the dressing rooms to see if his friend would agree with him.

A small blush appeared on Josuke's face, which is why he turned away from his pal instantly. "Yeah, yeah! Let's go then!" he rushed as he walked back into the stall, locking the door behind him once again. It would fluster him whenever Okuyasu saw right through him, but he didn't hate it. He found that it gave them a deeper connection, and knowing that his friend knew him so well, he couldn't help but smile about it like a dork. But even though Josuke was doing his best to hide it, Okuyasu could tell that his friend was enjoying himself immensely at the moment. It was so cute, in his opinion. That thought stuck with him too as he disappeared back into his changing room and started stripping himself of the clothing yet again, hanging them back up away from the clothes he hadn't tried on yet.

After collecting himself, Josuke undressed again, just as quickly as he had before, and picked out the next few things. This time he made sure to combine something that Okuyasu had chosen for him, and, surprisingly, it fit really well with the other things. 'Guess I could teach him something after all,' Josuke thought with a chuckle as he put on the next outfit, still taking care not to mess up his hair too much. A few more minutes passed before he stepped outside to admire his new look in the mirror once again.

He jokingly whistled at himself this time while he tweaked his outfit, tucking things into place. He eagerly awaited Okuyasu to be done as well, already turning in his direction, so he could instantly see the new outfit his friend wore.

Yet again, this outfit was a bit of a struggle for Okuyasu to put on, mostly due to the number of layers and accessories. He was kind of sure he had it figured out at some point, so he just figured it was good enough and stepped out of the room, finding Josuke already finished. He wasn't surprised at all; this was all like muscle memory for his more flamboyant friend.

"Duuuude!" Okuyasu called out upon seeing his friend, wiggling his eyebrows at him suggestively. "Goddamn!" He added, in a joking tone, but he really meant it; his friend looked great. It then dawned on him that Josuke was using some of the clothes that he had chosen for him, and at that, he felt his heart start to flutter a little.

Josuke grinned again and struck another pose. "Right? You actually picked somethin' awesome, Oku," he complimented his friend as he gestured at the shirt he was wearing, which fit very well with the rest.

"I'm gonna be better at pickin' out clothes than you in no time!" Okuyasu gloated proudly, still marveling at his friend's beauty. Boy, did he have a lot of it, both natural and styled. Normally, Okuyasu would find himself envious of someone so good-looking, but for some reason, when it came to his friend, he felt more admiration than anything.

Josuke’s eyes stayed fixated on his own outfit for another moment before shooting up and checking out his friend. "You could actually model like that, dude!" he chuckled, his eyes trailing up and down his buddy's body, sometimes lingering on certain places. Okuyasu was actually built very nicely; he had always thought so, but he never really took the time to study his frame more intently. Probably because it seemed weird to stare down at your best friend like he was a statue standing in a museum or something. Josuke shook his head slightly as he realized he might've been staring a bit too much, clearing his throat as he turned to face the mirror again instead.

"We both look awesome! I wish we could show off, man!" Josuke then changed the topic naturally, still sneakily looking at his friend through the reflection in the mirror. 'Yeah, he looks great..' That thought didn't leave his mind for a while longer, but it didn't bother him. They always hyped each other up, boosting their egos all the time. This wasn't anything new, yet it felt exciting.

Okuyasu was a bit taken aback when his outfit was addressed; he was so focused on looking at his friend. He grinned bashfully, his cheeks likely dusted a light pink at the praise. He wasn't so sure how to respond to the compliment, but he loved hearing it nonetheless. Not really for the sake of hearing it per se.. just something about Josuke being the one to tell him that made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"We really do, man! Maybe we can get part-time jobs after we figure out our class schedules or something." The scarred boy suggested trying to find a way to shorten their wait on buying these impressive items. Even if he wasn't as deep into it as his friend, Josuke always managed to drag Okuyasu down the rabbit hole with him when it came to these things.

"Good idea, man," Josuke agreed with a nod, resting his hand on his hip. A small sigh left his lips due to all the dressing and undressing. As much as he found modeling admirable, he could understand in these moments just how tiring it must be to change outfits, hairstyles, and make-up all day long, striking poses right under beaming hot lights. A shudder went down his spine at the thought of that; luckily, he wasn't in that position and could just do it for the fun of it. At this point, Okuyasu could tell that his friend was getting tired. And even though he really enjoyed dressing up with him, he was kind of glad at the same time since he had way less energy for this type of stuff to begin with, and he had already been getting drained for a bit now too.

"Well, I'm gettin' hungry again," Josuke chuckled when he turned around to face his friend, hoping he felt the same way. "Let's go. Maybe we can get a snack somewhere. I'm cravin' somethin' sweet," he added before stretching his back with a groan, a happy sigh following.

"Aww yeah! Yer buyin' this time, though!" Okuyasu agreed happily, giving his friend a nudge with his elbow as they both made their way back to their stalls to undress yet again.

Josuke stood inside the stall and, for the last time, locked the door behind him and got rid of his clothes before putting on his old, worn-out ones that he wishes he could replace already, but not this time. Even though they were old, they still felt extremely comfortable, making him feel nostalgic in a way whenever he put them on. After he finished dressing again, he unlocked the door and grabbed all the items, organizing them so they could be put back where they belonged. Such a shame, Josuke thought, but this was quite common, so he didn't waste another thought on it and just stepped out of the stall.
This time, it didn't take the younger man that long to redress, since it was just back into the clothes he was used to putting on anyway. So once he was done, he also gathered the items in his arms and returned to meet up with his friend again. His mind was still focused on what Josuke had mentioned earlier about craving something sweet, and now he was really thinking about it. He could already feel his stomach rumbling, and almost as if on cue, it made a low grumbling noise as if to beg the boys to hurry up.

As soon as Okuyasu joined him, the older male headed to return the clothes to the staff; they would handle putting them back and such. Josuke left the store with his friend and groaned happily at the fresh air, which was mixed with trees and delicious food from the restaurants. For a second, the blue-eyed man thought about what exactly he was craving, his eyes darting through the area until he found a spot that caught his attention. Okuyasu trotted along happily beside his pal as they left the store back into the fresh outside air. He squinted a bit as his eyes adjusted to the difference in light, and he felt himself shiver a bit at the slight breeze in the wind.

"Hmm.. anythin' you're cravin', Oku?" Josuke asked just in case, as he felt indecisive since anything sounded good right now. His hands landed in his pockets while they kept strolling around the busy streets, many people passing by them on their way.

"Hmm.." Okuyasu stopped for a moment to think about the question he was asked, squinting a bit harder now, mostly for dramatic effect. Then suddenly a great idea popped into his mind, and he grabbed onto his friend's arm excitedly, shaking him about as he squealed, "Josuke, I want ice cream!!" His eyes were sparkling with excitement as he looked up with begging eyes at his friend.

Josuke's jaw dropped in excitement at his friend's suggestion, a smile growing on his face. "Perfect!" He chimed in, and with that, they started heading to their usual ice cream shop, one they'd been going to for a long time; luckily, it wasn't far.

The younger male let out another excited squeal as he followed his friend to the ice cream shop. His grip on the other boy's arm lingered for the majority of the walk, out of pure excitement. This was turning out to be such a great day. He moved in with his best bro and got to spend tons of time with him. They got yummy food from Tonio's, and now they're going to get ice cream!! He was over the moon!!

Their steps were in sync as they approached the big 'Ice cream' sign, saliva already building in Josuke's mouth. As soon as they reached the shop, they stood in line, which was a slight bit longer than usual, probably because it was fairly warm today. A few minutes passed of them impatiently shuffling on their feet as they scoped out the menu, even if Josuke already knew what he was getting.

"Josuke, Okuyasu! Good to see you! What can I get you two?" the familiar man asked with a gentle smile, holding his scoop ready for serving, as well as an ice cream cone in his other hand. "Strawberry for me," Josuke replied as his eyes then wandered over to his friend, his hands rummaging in his pocket for his wallet to pay after.

Okuyasu also looked through the whole menu, despite knowing what he wanted already. It still amazed him to see all the options, and one of these times he might change his mind because of it. Once it was his turn to order, he didn't hesitate to proudly shoot out his answer, one of his favorite flavors. "I'll get birthday cake!"

Instantly, the man happily scooped up the ice cream right into the cone, giving them an even bigger scoop than he normally would serve since they always came here. "Strawberry for you-" he spoke as he handed Josuke his ice cream and then added, "-And birthday cake for you!" He held out Okuyasu's ice cream and gave them both another soft smile, full of gratitude. The scarred boy was giddy with delight as he watched the man scoop up the ice cream. He could feel himself salivating at the sight of the creamy deliciousness before him. He didn't hesitate at all to reach out and grab the yummy treat, thanking the man with a huge smile as he did.

Josuke was still trying to get his wallet, but now that he had one hand full of delicious ice cream, it was an even more challenging task than it had to be. "Dude- could you hold this for a minute?" Josuke asked his friend, his hand reaching out to Okuyasu, making it easier for him to grab the ice cream.

Okuyasu was impatient enough to already go in for a lick, and by the time he did, his friend asked if he could hold his ice cream too for a moment. So after slurping up another mouthful real quick, he reached out to grab the other ice cream cone for his friend, so he could pay the man, meanwhile still fixated on his own.

"Thanks again!" Josuke thanked him as he handed over the money, adding a little extra as a tip, to which the man replied ecstatically. "Come again and take care!" They said their goodbyes, followed by a wave of Josuke's hand before he walked off with his friend, immediately eyeing his much-desired ice cream.

"Thanks," Josuke said again before reaching out to grab the cone once and finally taking a lick at it himself, the sweet coolness dancing on his tongue. "Ahh, so good.. so refreshing!" he cheered as he licked again, really enjoying the taste and freshness of it. Okuyasu replied to his thanks with a nod and a "mhm" and simply kept slurping away at his ice cream. He was in heaven at the moment, and nothing could change that.

While they kept strolling through the area, Josuke wanted to look for a place to sit down for a bit as they ate. The ice cream they had just received was already dripping slightly because of the heat from the sun. So, he quickly eyed a nearby bench that was in some sort of park, heading for it before taking a seat and groaning out a "Phew!" Josuke's legs thanked him for relaxing once again, his tongue still busy slurping up the treat in his hand, trying his best not to let any of it drip on himself.

Okuyasu plopped down next to Josuke with an exhausted huff, taking his eyes away from his own ice cream to check out what his pal was up to. He was happy to see the blue-eyed boy slurping away at his treat. Something about this whole situation filled Okuyasu's chest with such a warm feeling; he loved it.

The heat of the sun really did a good job at melting the ice cream quicker than they could gobble it up, but Josuke kept at it as best he could. He was so lost in thought that he didn't realize that Crazy Diamond was manifesting in front of the two, eyeing Okuyasu. The stickiness that ran down Okuyasu's arm honestly didn't bother him all that much; he would just wipe it away after he was finished and wash his hands in a public bathroom or something if he was feeling too sticky after.

The Stand got closer to the scarred boy and observed his face and hands, noticing that some ice cream had dripped down his mouth and arm, which didn't seem to bother him one bit. Josuke simply kept happily eating away at his treat, blissfully unaware. Okuyasu was also so focused on eating his ice cream that he wasn't even paying attention when Crazy Diamond materialized in front of them. He startled a bit when he finally noticed the Stand, jumping slightly but relaxing back instantly since he was quite comfy with the spirit. He looked back into the stand's eyes as it observed him and gave it a small smile.

Crazy Diamond only got closer, and with one of its thumbs, it wiped away the mess next to Okuyasu's mouth, carefully getting each bit of ice cream and licking it up off of its thumb. He was taken aback by the large spirit's actions; he had to let out a little giggle, especially as he saw the stand lick the ice cream back up for itself.

Out of nowhere, Josuke could taste a slight hint of.. birthday cake ice cream, which slightly confused him, and as he checked his own ice cream, he then looked over at his buddy, an absolutely unexpected scene unfolding in front of him. His eyes widened in shock, but he didn't move and just froze in place as he watched his Stand act on its own once again.

Crazy Diamond then moved down to Okuyasu's arm, trailing the drip of the ice cream with its tongue, not stopping until he got it all. The odd feeling of the spirit's tongue gliding down his arm to now pick up the rest of the dripping treat surprised the scarred boy even more. Now it was starting to tickle, and he let out a little laughter. He thought this whole thing was cute, but didn't think much more about it than that. He knew that Josuke wanted to know if his stand was up to something, so just to be sure, Okuyasu glanced his way to confirm that his friend knew about this before addressing the Stand itself. "Hey buddy, ya don't gotta do that." He laughed, "Thanks for cleanin' me up, though. You wanna try some from the cone instead?" He offered the spirit, holding the half-eaten drippy snack towards the large being.

The spirit happily complied and nibbled on the ice cream a little before licking it. It seemed fairly intrigued by the treat, but more so by Okuyasu himself. Josuke just gulped and watched—nothing more. He remembered Jotaro telling him 'not to resist what it wants', but this was too much!
Okuyasu let out another gleeful giggle as he watched the Stand sample his treat right from the source. He had never seen anything like this; it was so cute to him. "Look, Josuke, I think he likes it!" He exclaimed happily as he quickly glanced up at his friend and then back to the spirit, who seemed to be satisfied for now.

Josuke didn't say anything about Okuyasu's enthusiasm; he just tried to avoid eye contact for now. To his misfortune, though, it was harder than he expected, mostly due to the strange feeling he was starting to get on the top of his head, as if he were being petted. It was faint, but yet so real and strong that his throat felt dry. He was conflicted; should he just wait? Or should he stop it? His head told him to put an end to his Stand's behavior, but his heart somehow felt different.

Tasting the faint hint of his friend's ice cream while watching them be all close made Josuke feel weird; he didn't even notice his own ice cream melting away until some of it dripped onto his leg. "Ah! God-damn it!" he cursed due to being startled, mostly by his own thoughts.

What the hell was happening?! Why was Crazy Diamond acting so odd? Josuke couldn't help but blush at the sight of it, yet he didn't know what to do. Should he say something? Should he just wait until it was finished? He leaned back with a sigh and rubbed his forehead, peeking through his fingers at the two of them once again.

Crazy Diamond hadn't taken another go at the treat; it just plopped down in front of Okuyasu and placed its head on his lap, watching him from below. It almost looked like it was waiting to repeat its previous actions, as if it didn't want to consume the ice cream any other way than that. Josuke couldn't help but feel embarrassed at his own soul for acting like this; this was way too weird.

"All done for now, dude?" Okuyasu asked the Stand with a big smile as he watched the large being settle its head into his lap. He raised his ice cream up to take another messy lick but also couldn't help himself from lifting his free hand to stroke the spirit's head a couple of times; it was just so damn cute. Okuyasu really liked his friend's Stand. It wasn't that his own wasn't cool, wholesome, or anything; he just didn't come out much, so he couldn't form much of an opinion on how 'cute' he was.

As Josuke watched the situation unfold before him, Jotaro's voice kept ringing in his head—all the words he said and what they could mean. Until Josuke just stood up without a warning, clenching his ice cream in his hand and crushing the cone slightly at the pressure. "L-let's keep going!" he spoke as collectedly as he could before walking off without waiting for his friend. Crazy Diamond watched his steps, almost sighing at the fact that he had to follow or else he'd just dissipate again anyway, which seemed to be Josuke's plan as their range just wasn't that long.

He acted so overly calm and collected, cool and composed most times, that seeing his own soul be this way just didn't sit right with him. Crazy Diamond was supposed to act like him, not like some cute puppy desperate for his friend's attention, or whatever that may have been. Josuke hoped it was only that.

The soul lifted itself from its position and, with a soft 'Dora', followed behind his user, not disappearing just yet. Josuke just walked, his face flushed out of shame. He wasn't sure why he felt so shameful in this situation; Okuyasu didn't seem to mind, and Jotaro told him it could happen. Yet his body felt weirdly tight, and his face was colored a slight red. Maybe it was due to the fact that it was his soul that acted this way; Josuke would never do something like that, he thought.

Okuyasu really wasn't aware of how much this was annoying his friend on an emotional level, so when he heard the blue-eyed boy's distressed voice peak through the affection he was giving the Stand, he had to glance at him with a slight frown, the frown only growing a bit as Crazy Diamond didn't seem to want to get up but did anyway as it couldn't disobey its user that much.

The scarred boy stood up as well, trotting after Josuke, still licking at his ice cream as he asked, "Somethin' wrong, bro? Ya seem irritated." At the same time, he used his free hand to reach up and rest it reassuringly on his friend's back.

Okuyasu glanced at Crazy Diamond with a slight concern in his eyes. He wished he could simply ask the spirit what was bugging his friend, but sadly, the Stands' communication skills weren't the greatest. But hey, his Stand could barely make any sound, so he couldn't really complain about the matter anyway.

Upon feeling Okuyasu's hand on his body, Josuke flinched slightly, mostly due to being surprised. In return, Okuyasu instantly retracted his hand from his friend's shoulder when he felt the unusual reaction. Josuke then gave him a quick glance before looking up ahead again, still walking fairly fast, as if he were running from his own shame.

"I'm fine!" Josuke's voice sounded firm with a note of sourness to it, like he was swallowing something he didn't want to. His eyes went over to his soul, who was just quietly following along, mostly staying by Okuyasu's side the whole time, as best as it could.

The display Josuke was putting off made the brown-eyed boy feel a slight bit guilty; he wondered if he had done anything wrong to make his friend behave like this. He didn't say anything at all to Josuke for the time being; he figured that the boy probably needed a moment. So instead, he continued munching away at his ice cream, which was nearly finished by this point. All while taking small glances at his buddy, who was just a slight bit faster, to see how he was doing.

A sigh escaped Josuke's lips before he slowed his pace finally, making it easier for his friend and his Stand to follow along. "Sorry.. I just- Crazy Diamond.. surprised me," he then explained as he looked at the floor, reality kicking in. He realized that he might've been acting like a fool, making a big deal out of nothing, yet he didn't feel that way. Regardless of whether he was overreacting or not, he didn't want to keep his best friend in the dark, especially because this somewhat concerned him too. Crazy Diamond hovered behind Okuyasu, grabbing his shirt and pulling it slightly to keep him close.

When Okuyasu heard his friend begin to explain the situation after what felt like forever, relief washed over him. He was glad to know he wasn't the cause of his friends' stress, but he still wanted to help.

"Don't worry 'bout it-" Okuyasu said, finishing up his treat before continuing, "He's really botherin' ya that much? Why?" He gently prodded, out of genuine curiosity. He really didn't find issue with the Stand's actions, even as he was currently stationed, hovering over the younger man with a tight grip on him. All it did was put Okuyasu at ease, knowing he was with his best buddy, and now apparently his best buddy's puppy dog of a soul. Nothing wrong there.

"I dunno-" Josuke started replying before cutting himself off, noticing his ice cream had mostly melted away by now and his hand was covered in the sticky mess. With a groan, he walked to the nearest trash can and threw it away. It was already crushed by his palm anyway. He then pulled out a handkerchief he always carried around and wiped his hands and face to the best of his abilities, mumbling a few curses in the meantime. "-Anyway, I dunno. It probably sounds dumb anyway.." He then finished his sentence, shaking his head slightly at himself.

He knew Okuyasu wasn't going to judge him, as he himself would, and talking to his best friend about his Stand's weird behavior, which was low-key, leaning towards a very suspicious side, at least in Josuke's mind, made him feel embarrassed.

The scarred boy frowned with worry over his friend; he didn't want Josuke to feel like he couldn't talk to him if something was going on. He was always there for Okuyasu even through the dumbest issues, and he was determined to do the same for his bro no matter what. "Dude, no, if it's buggin' ya, then it can't be dumb!" He insisted, his concern slightly evident in his voice.
To be honest, this was probably the first time Josuke felt this way towards his buddy. Usually, they shared everything. So why was this so sensitive? Was it because of Crazy Diamond? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't sure of most things regarding this topic. Crazy Diamond looked at Josuke with concern, finally releasing Okuyasu as he hovered over towards his user, patting his back. Josuke gave his own soul a bittersweet smile, giving it a quick glance before focusing back on cleaning himself properly.

Okuyasu’s eyes watched Crazy Diamond closely as it seemed to attempt to console its user. "See? He doesn't want ya feelin' bad, either!" And with that, the younger man also put his hand back on Josuke's back to offer a supportive rub. He figured if Crazy Diamond could do it, it might be fine for him to do so again, too. He felt kind of at a loss; it wasn't usually Josuke who needed comforting between the two. But he was going to do his absolute best nonetheless.

A big, defeated sigh left Josuke's lips, and he stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket and straightened his back. "Yeah, yeah-" he replied with a waving gesture, crossing his arms after. His eyes traveled back to his Stand before getting stuck on his friend's face.

"-I just feel weird with Crazy Diamond bein' so.. affectionate!" Josuke finally let out, and another sigh left his lips before his eyes went back to his soul to see what kind of face it would be making. Crazy Diamond, though, just looked at Okuyasu with curious eyes, not paying much attention to its owner anymore. "Like, it seems obsessed with you, dude!" Josuke added before gesturing at his own stand, pointing out the odd behavior it was practicing, at least in his eyes.

Okuyasu let his arm fall back to his side as he listened to his friend explain his distress. Just as he thought, he wasn't really sure he understood what the issue was. Yeah, he understood what Josuke was saying, but he couldn't get why it bothered his friend so much to see the stand behave like that.

Crazy Diamond hovered over towards Okuyasu and watched him closely to see how he'd react to that statement. It all seemed unusual in Josuke's opinion, and he tried to remember and act upon Jotaro's advice, but something inside him made it feel too awkward and too intense. He wasn't trying to be dramatic; it was just the case that he often tended to be, especially when it came to his own feelings, which he never really took the time to get familiar with.

"Hmm.. I dunno about obsessed," Okuyasu said with a slight chuckle, shrugging his shoulders. "But yeah, he's kinda clingy lately.. Why does it bother ya? Aren't we usually pretty affectionate with each other? What's the issue if it's him?" He asked, arching a brow. He wasn't trying to pick on his friend at all, and he hoped it didn't come across that way. Okuyasu just really didn't understand why this situation was stressful for the other. He let out a small sigh, meeting eyes with Crazy Diamond again for a moment as he thought of a potential solution to give his pal.

"B-because I don't control it!" Josuke protested with a huff, averting eye contact once more. That was mostly what bothered him. He didn't like not being in control, and he was worried about his Stand doing something to hurt someone. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if that ever happened. Not only that, but he was trying so hard to help people, and even though so far Crazy Diamond seemed tame and friendly, he felt fear of it turning into something bad.

"Man, I just don't want someone gettin' hurt, you know?" Josuke then explained, finally putting his thoughts into words. Even though he did feel overwhelmingly awkward about Crazy Diamond being so affectionate with his friend, he opted not to mention that part since he didn't want to sound weird about it. Okuyasu was right; why would it be different in that regard? Somehow, it was for Josuke, though he wasn't sure why. He felt odd even thinking about it, which is why he just shook off that thought and focused on another aspect of his worries he was comfortable addressing.

The younger male did the best he could to understand the situation as it was explained, and he did for the most part, but from his perspective, he just didn't see it as so severe. Okuyasu didn't think Crazy Diamond would ever become dangerous. That's his best friend's soul, after all! He just wished he could ease Josuke's mind the same way he did his.

"Well, but didn't Mr. Jotaro tell you that it's fine? Plus, you're probably the kindest dude I know, bro. If Crazy D is really just part of you, then I don't think he's just gonna go around hurting people for nothin'!" He protested in an attempt to put at least that worry to rest. But still, Okuyasu wanted to do more. So that's what he was going to try to do, and through a brief brainstorm, he thought he finally had an idea, and his face lit up like a light bulb.

Josuke frowned, thinking about the words his friend offered him as support. "I guess you're not wrong," he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck when he let those words sink in. He found himself feeling like a fool. Okuyasu was so chill about it all, giving the impression that Josuke really didn't need to worry that much. He felt slightly flustered but grateful nonetheless for his buddy's input and support, a small smile forming on his lips.

Though that didn't last all too long, when he glanced over at Okuyasu, who made an expression, he knew all too well. "What are ya thinkin'?" Josuke asked suspiciously with a raised brow, crossing his arms once again, a slight squint in his eyes as he was awaiting his reply. He wasn't sure if he felt worried to know or actually curious; it was a mixture of emotions, just like anything lately.

Okuyasu was happy to see that his words seemed to at least somewhat reassure his friend, even if not all the way. It was better than nothing, and they could keep building on it. But when Josuke addressed the younger man again, his expression twisted into a proud smile. At this moment, Okuyasu felt like a genius, and he fully expected his buddy to reciprocate that feeling. "Well, I was just thinkin... maybe Crazy D is lonely?" He suggested gesturing to the Stand. "He's actin' kinda like a puppy that needs a pal, yanno? So what if we try to give 'em one?" And with that, his own Stand, The Hand, materialized in front of them, tilting its head slightly as if it didn't know what its current purpose was supposed to be yet.

As soon as Okuyasu's idea ran through Josuke's mind, his eyes lit up, and they widened in surprise. "Dude! That's genius!" he cheered, clapping his hands together one time in response. He happily punched his buddy's arm and glanced over at both their Stands, eyes darting between them to see their reactions.

Okuyasu let pride fill him up, and it was evident in his expression as he saw Josuke's reaction to his idea. His ego was now totally inflated, but he shouldn't let that get the best of him just yet. He rubbed his arm where Josuke had hit it, cheering back with "Glad ya agree!" Before following his friend's gaze to watch the Stands interactions as well.

Crazy Diamond looked over at the other soul, quickly rushing over to it. "Dora!" he exclaimed and pointed at The Hand, its expression not really changing into anything, though. To be fair, it was a bit difficult to really read their expressions anyway; in the end, they just weren't humans, so the way they expressed themselves could seem clumsy and silly at times. But, overall, they could get the gist of it most of the time.

"Crazy D seems happy..! I think?" Josuke whispered to Okuyasu, pointing at the Stands hovering in front of each other. Meanwhile, Josuke's Stand kept staring at Okuyasu's Stand, its eyes going over each part of its body.

The Hand hadn't reacted much yet. It wasn't very clear what the occasion was. It was pretty rare for Okuyasu to bring his Stand out for no reason, since he liked to do his own handy work unless he really couldn't. But as Crazy Diamond made its way closer to the pouty Stand, something in its eyes seemed to light up, as if it were excited. And it wasn't just that it looked that way.. Okuyasu could FEEL it too, although it was somewhat muted. "I think The Hand is, too!" He whispered back in excitement.

The Hand, now somewhat understanding that he wasn't out for anything particular, looked to the boys and then back to the other soul as if waiting for confirmation to act, which it got in the form of a small thumbs up from Okuyasu. After that, it proceeded forward, moving slowly towards Josuke's Stand, letting out a faint warble as it shyly reached out for Crazy Diamond, like it wanted to touch the other soul but wasn't quite sure how to do it.

Josuke eagerly kept watching, his hands forming fists in excitement. He always liked it when their Stands got the chance to interact; they seemed like friends too, which just confirmed once again how close the two of them actually were.

Crazy Diamond then grabbed The Hand's left hand and squeezed it slightly, pulling it closer to itself with the motion. "Dora," it mumbled as if communicating with the other Stand, though Josuke and Okuyasu would never know what it meant anyway. Josuke's soul then reached its other hand out to embrace The Hand fully, pulling it into a hug as it even closed its eyes while doing so.

When Crazy Diamond grabbed onto The Hand, Okuyasu felt his own pulse pick up at the added pressure on his own hand. 'Is this what Josuke felt the whole time??' He found himself wondering. He never really let his Stand interact with enough things to know they had more connections than just the pain and damage they get in fights. Okuyasu had to admit that he was feeling rather flustered, especially as his Stand was pulled into a tight hug. Which Okuyasu certainly felt, causing his face to flush red.

"Woah, Oku, I think you were right, dude," Josuke said, surprised as he watched the scene unfold, trying to shake the feeling of the embrace he could faintly feel. It was slightly warm, and it creepily almost felt like hugging his best friend in person, just more muted. It was quite amazing how much you could feel, especially when you focused on it, which Josuke tried to refrain from for obvious reasons. This wasn't the time for hugging.
Meanwhile, though, The Hand did not protest at all towards Josuke's soul. When pulled into the hug, it instantly nuzzled into the crook of the giant Stand's neck and let out a content hum, nearly melting in the arms of the other. Just like its user, The Hand was rather touch-deprived and love-starved. If you looked close, you could even see its pouty lip quiver slightly as it was overcome with emotion over such a small gesture.

Although he wanted to bask in the glory of being right for once, Okuyasu could absolutely not look his friend in the eye right now, so his eyes stayed fixated on the stands as he responded, "Feels great, bein' the smartest!" In a smug tone, he was trying to keep his composure as he came to the crushing.. or elevating? Realization of how their Stands interactions were actually correlated to them as people.

Despite not knowing exactly why, Josuke could feel relief in his chest, maybe because his own Stand felt more at ease. Was this what Jotaro meant by not resisting it? He wasn't quite sure, but regardless of the reason, he happily watched the two Stands with a smile, crossing his arms.

As odd as it probably was, watching the Stands interact was actually very cute to Okuyasu. It crossed his mind just then that he wasn't really sure what he was keeping The Hand away from Crazy Diamond all this time for; he just had never considered that they would like to hang out, too, apparently. It was something he would try to be more considerate of from now on, though.

Crazy Diamond didn't move for a while, just enjoying the embrace the two stands shared. Josuke’s neck tickled slightly, causing him to scratch it as if he were trying to get it to stop, though to no avail. His eyes went over to Okuyasu, and immediately he noticed his red face, since it was something he often saw.

Okuyasu was typically very emotional and didn't shy away from busting out crying or into big laughter, or from his face turning a bright red when he was angry or flustered. There was no reason to really think anything into it. Josuke didn't mention anything and just looked away, his cheeks burning up at the sight of his friend rather than the Stands. 'Yeah.. now you get what I meant, dude!' he thought to himself while directing his gaze back to the hugging Stands.

After a little while, Crazy Diamond gently rubbed The Hand's back, really investigating each crevice of its huge body. It tightened the hug with its other arm and kept drawing shapes along the skin of Okuyasu's soul. Josuke's fingertips tingled at the sensation. He looked at them just to make sure there really wasn't anything touching them, and in fact, it was solely the stimulation he received from his stand.

It made sense; he felt everything in a fight when Crazy Diamond got hurt, yet he just never experienced it like this before, which was new and even somewhat creepy. But at the same time, it felt nice, even if he was never going to admit that to himself.

The Hand was really getting overwhelmed with emotion at this point; it was a mix of a lot of things, all mainly sourced from the deep loneliness Okuyasu had always felt inside him since he was a young boy. And being a direct tie to Okuyasu, it was all surfacing in The Hand now as a result of this loving gesture. The pouty Stand's shoulders began to shake as if it were crying, and it finally reciprocated the hug with its right arm, being sure to not let its palm actively erase anything, and with his left, rubbing softly at the blue pectoral on the other Stand's body. It again let out a very soft but shaky whine as it looked up at Crazy Diamond, almost as if it were begging to not be let go.

This display was getting to be too much for the scarred boy. The fact that his Stand was feeling so emotional made HIM feel emotional, and, oh boy, he was a mess when it came to that. Okuyasu's eyes began to well up with tears as the feelings within his soul started to flood his chest. The phantom feeling of Crazy Diamond's embrace really wasn't helping at the moment since it felt like, with the squeeze, he would pop and the emotion would just come flooding out.

He didn't hate it, though. It was just overwhelming. And by no means was he going to make the spirits stop on his behalf if this was what they desperately needed. But it was hard. Finally, he looked back to meet Josukes face, his own face deep red and threatening to spill tears. "Bro, The Hand is going nuts.. Maybe we shoulda let them hang out before," he shakily stated, his eyes darting between Josuke and their Stands, who were still sharing an embrace.

Josuke's eyes shot over to Okuyasu's, surprise building on his face in response to seeing his friend's reaction. He didn't expect such an intense reaction to this, but he figured it fit Okuyasu's personality in some way. "Y-yeah, sure.. Are you okay, bro?" Josuke then asked out of concern, stepping a few steps closer just in case he needed some support.

Josuke was certain that it was probably just Okuyasu being emotional, but he wanted to make sure nonetheless that that was just his nature. In response to Josuke's slight worry, Crazy Diamond let out a soft 'Dora' towards The Hand, as if trying to calm it down. In the end, Josuke and his Stand were connected, so they were going to respond to each other's actions and feelings most of the time.

The pastel Stand kept the other close and, with its other free hand, continued to explore the big body, mostly the back area, sometimes going up to the neck. Josuke wasn't paying much attention to the Stands anymore, mostly just to his friend, wondering if this was really the best idea after all or if there was anything else they could try.

When Josuke asked him if he was okay, Okuyasu had no idea how to respond. Nothing was really happening; of course he was fine. But then why did he feel so weird? His dark eyes shot down to the floor as he thought of a way to respond to Josuke in a way that made sense. In the end, he wasn't so sure if it did. The best he managed to settle on was, "I dunno, I guess so." Allowing his gaze to fall back on the floor as he scraped some sand around with his foot. The taller male just left it at that and crossed his arms, turning away from his friend. This was quite an awkward situation, but he would be willing to deal with it if it would help his Stand regain its composure; at least that's what he hoped to happen.

Okuyasu was doing the best he could to fight back the emotion. It was something he wasn't really in the mood to face, especially when it was this strong. He just wanted to have a good time with his buddy and help him out if he needed something. He wasn't going to let this stop them.

Okuyasu's entire body shivered at the feeling of a nonexistent hand exploring the backside of his body. His body felt very light at the sensation, and if it was possible, he was sure his face was growing even redder.

The Hand, however, was completely shameless when it came to receiving affection from the other Stand. It let out a satisfied coo as it shakily buried its face back in the neck of the other Stand, relaxing more of its weight so that it was comfortably resting in the arms of the pastel spirit. Okuyasu swore he could feel an emotion swelling inside of him that he couldn't quite place a name to, and it was somewhat bothering him to not know. He typically wasn't one to feel so awkward and uneasy during any display of affection, especially when it included himself. He usually loved it! Hugging his bro was the best. This just felt different, though, and he wasn't sure what to do or say about it. The younger boy just awkwardly looked back and forth between the ground and the Stands for a while.

Crazy Diamond didn't even consider stopping the hug. Its hand traveled down along the Hand's back, and with another soft 'Dora', its hand landed on the other Stands' butt, squeezing it gently. Josuke didn't really notice what was happening at first, since he wasn't looking at either the Stands or Okuyasu. He had turned around to just let the situation play out on its own. Though he had to admit it, his hand felt different from before, like he was grabbing something soft but firm at the same time.

Josuke looked at his own hand, wondering what the sensation could be, yet he didn't bother checking himself. 'I hope they're done soon, jeez,' he thought to himself with a sigh, tapping his feet on the ground impatiently now and then.

The Hand was having the time of its life, though, just basking in the pure love of the other spirit. Crazy Diamond's hands sent shivers through The Hand's body, which in turn also channeled through Okuyasu as well. He was beginning to get used to the sensation a bit when suddenly it changed a little. The location was a bit lower.. the grasp a bit tighter, and it then dawned on the scarred boy what he was feeling, and he let out a surprised "EeEuGH!!" and visibly jumped a few inches into the air.

Okuyasu's eyes finally snapped up to see what was happening, and to his shock, The Hand wasn't doing anything about it! If anything, it looked like it was enjoying the touch! It let out a slight purr and wiggled its waist teasingly, which sent a feeling through Okuyasu that he didn't quite understand. The worst part about this was that Okuyasu was pretty sure he was enjoying it deep down, and it made him feel incredibly awkward. He didn't know what to do or say or if or how he should address Josuke, so he just stood there looking at him in shock for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.
Josuke himself flinched slightly at Okuyasu's reaction, turning to him instantly. "Dude! What-" he started saying before his eyes shot over to the Stands as soon as he saw his friend observing them, his face filling with shock and shame. He froze for a second and awkwardly just looked at the two souls embracing each other, his face filling with heat and color instantly.

"O-OKAY THAT'S IT!" Josuke yelled when he waved his hands in denial at them, walking closer to try to separate them. Crazy Diamond, though, didn't pay attention and just kept lovingly exploring the other's body, getting more bold by the second. But Josuke was having none of it, and he reached for his own Stand and pulled it away from The Hand. His breath felt short and hot, most likely out of embarrassment from such a situation.

Okuyasu was beyond glad that he didn't need to verbally explain the situation to his friend; he didn't think that he could, at least not now. As Josuke sprung forward to separate the Stands, Okuyasu let out a shaky breath that he hadn't even realized he had been holding in. Finally, the pressure around his body was released as Josuke pulled his Stand off and scolded it. However, it didn't last for long.

Crazy Diamond didn't like this at all, and it glared at its user and exclaimed a 'Dora!' in response, though Josuke didn't even react at all. "What the hell are you doing, huh?!" he then asked as if trying to scold his own soul, which he never thought he had to do in his life, but today was the day. Crazy Diamond just looked over at Okuyasu's Stand and back at Josuke, crossing its arms like a child protesting.

Like Crazy Diamond, The Hand was really upset by the forced separation. It was finally getting the love it so desperately craved, and it wasn't ready to stop yet! It let out a loud cry as it's previously somewhat satisfied face twisted back into an angry and upset pout.

Josuke couldn't help but sigh deeply; he couldn't even bring himself to look over at his best friend. This was just so weird! His face was still deeply red, and he covered it with one hand and had the other tightly gripped around Crazy Diamond's arm to keep him in line. Luckily, it worked.

Okuyasu tried to recall his Stand at that point, but it didn't work. And that was starting to freak him out a bit. He was really starting to understand Josuke's position a lot more now. "Dude, he won't listen to me!" Okuyasu mumbled in embarrassment as The Hand shot forward and firmly grabbed back onto the other Stand, snaking its arms across Crazy Diamond's torso and holding him with a tight squeeze, letting out a whine as it buried its face into the large spirit's back in desperation.

The blue-eyed boy was startled and, with the motion of his friend's stand, forcefully let go of Crazy Diamond's arm. He felt the squeeze around his whole body, resulting in him swallowing hard and his eyes shooting over at Okuyasu. "Dude, w-what do we do?!" he asked worriedly as he gestured over at the two Stands, who really didn't seem to listen whatsoever at the moment.
Josuke just buried his face in his hands and let out another big sigh, which showed the desperation he felt.

Crazy Diamond happily sang another 'Dora' and turned itself around into the embrace, hugging the other Stand back tightly. Josuke felt even more restricted now; his face was so flushed and hot that he didn't even want to uncover it anymore. "This is so fucking embarrassing..!" Josuke mumbled to himself. He went down into a crouching position and just tried his best to think of a solution for this absolutely weird situation.

He hoped that Okuyasu would have an idea, though he was sure that his buddy must be just as clueless as he was. Crazy Diamond rubbed its face against the Hand's cheek, not even caring about the other two users.

At this point, Okuyasu was walking around in circles, ducking his head in shame and covering it with his hands as if he were trying to just disappear instead of his Stand. He peeked up from his 'hiding spot' as he heard his friend desperately searching for answers. "I dunno!" He shot back worriedly.

But he had to think of something. He could feel the pressure shifting over his body as Crazy Diamond resumed the embrace around his Stand's body. Okuyasu nodded in agreement with Josuke's statement, but couldn't bring himself to speak for a moment. He felt another shiver run through him as he felt the pressure on his cheek from the Stand's affection. He surely must have looked like a tomato at this point, he figured.

The Hand, again melting with ecstasy, let out another coo as it reciprocated the loving rubs before pressing the two spirits' foreheads together gently. Now Okuyasu had to speak out, and he suggested the only thing he could think of. "Maybe we should call Mr. Jotaro again! Maybe he can come over to our place and fix it or somethin'!?" He proposed desperately.

"Are ya nuts?! We can't show him this!" Josuke instantly protested, his head shooting up at his friend and no longer covering his tomato-red face. His pride could never handle showing this to his nephew; he'd rather just deal with the situation on his own and let it play out, or so he thought.
Before he could even finish that thought, Crazy Diamond started caressing The Hand's upper body with its hand, squeezing at its waist with a few soft 'Dora's' here and there.

Josuke couldn't believe his eyes. He was terrified of his Stand's hand landing on more spots it shouldn't, so he let out another desperate groan. "Fuck, let's just separate for now! I'll go find a phone, and you just stay here, so they can't fucking touch each other anymore!" Josuke yelled out and got up, running past the two Stands in the direction of the nearest payphone he knew of.
Okuyasu expected his friend's initial reactions. It's not like he particularly WANTED to call Josuke's nephew; the guy intimidated the hell out of him! But he didn't know what else to do, and he knew that Jotaro was someone that they could trust, as awkward as it may be. And regardless, it was his only idea! So when Crazy Diamond began getting more and more touchy by the second, Okuyasu felt relieved when Josuke gave in and agreed to call Jotaro.

Okuyasu didn't even protest when his buddy suggested splitting up. It was actually a good idea and something that hadn't occurred to him before. It wasn't like it would matter once they got back into each other's range anyway. He let out an exhausted sigh and hauled himself to a bench, plopping down and glaring at his Stand in confusion, who only looked back at him with sadness and anger. If it was possible, a larger pout plastered its face, and it stomped the ground in protest, letting out a low growl. Okuyasu chose to ignore it, though; he didn't know what to do.

After just a few meters, Crazy Diamond was forcefully removed from the Hand's body, having to follow his user no matter what. Obviously, Josuke's soul wasn't happy at all, and he angrily crossed its arms and whined around like a little child, but Josuke didn't stop running. He was just glad it all came to a stop for now. After a while of running, he finally reached a payphone, so he reached into his pocket and grabbed a few coins, dialed Jotaro's number, and impatiently awaited for him to pick up, each ringing feeling like years to him.

"Please, please, pick up.."! Josuke mumbled to himself as he bit the nail of his thumb. His heart was pounding out of his chest. Mostly due to the running and shame he was feeling, it didn't feel pleasant.

Jotaro, on the other hand, was finally taking a moment to relax. He finally reached a point in his research paper where he was confident enough to stop and take a break for the time being. He was in his kitchen, brewing coffee and flipping through the newspaper, when suddenly he heard his phone ring. His brows instantly fell into a furrow, and he groaned, his expression screwing up harder as he turned to the kitchen's phone port and saw an unidentifiable number on the tiny screen.

Jotaro almost didn't answer it to conserve his peaceful moment, but reluctantly decided against it, just in case it was someone important from his university or the Speedwagon Foundation. He could never be too careful. But just because he was careful didn't mean he was pleased. Jotaro answered the phone with an audible sigh and an aggressive-sounding, "Yeah?"

Josuke's shoulders sank in relief whenever he heard Jotaro's voice in reply, a sigh following. "J-Jotaro! It's me, Josuke-" he started explaining, still out of breath from the run to the phone.

Jotaro's annoyance instantly converted to a slight worry as he heard the out-of-breath and shaky-sounding voice of his young uncle on the phone. 'Could something have happened? Where is he calling me from? Why is he so shaky?' His mind was racing with thoughts, and he found himself already reaching for his car keys without even a second thought, ready to leave at any sign of danger. This type of paranoia had been installed deep within Jotaro after his battle with Dio; it wasn't just Josuke that he felt it towards.

"-Me and Okuyasu- no.. Uh, our Stands! I-, w-we need your help with something!" Josuke finally managed to get out, and his grip on the phone was tight and sweaty. He felt nervous about all of this. He wasn't even sure if Jotaro could do anything at all, but he and his friend were at a loss and didn't know who else to ask for help.

Another big sigh left the boy's lips before he added, "C-can we meet?". He felt bad about taking his nephew from his work, especially since he had just called him this morning and had already gotten some advice regarding this topic, but it didn't seem to be enough at all.

Okuyasu's Stand was behaving just as weirdly as Josuke's, so there must be a bigger problem at hand, he figured. Maybe there was another Stand user somewhere? Could it be possible for stands to 'malfunction'? Josuke didn't have the slightest clue but hoped dearly that Jotaro did.

Luckily for Jotaro’s peace of mind, the boy was shooting away like a gun, so it didn't take long to gather a bit more information and calm himself down a bit. 'Ah... this might be related to earlier..' he found himself thinking in both relief and awkwardness. He listened to his uncle lose his composure over the phone, something he wasn't really used to. It gave him a different kind of worrying feeling within his chest, one he would never verbally admit to, but the feeling was there, and he didn't want any of his family to be in distress.

"Hold on, is this related to what we spoke about earlier?" Jotaro asked, trying to confirm and make some sort of sense out of the situation before he agreed to anything, since, as it was currently, Josuke was just wild-firing issues and questions at him, and he didn't quite understand yet.

A silence followed Jotaro's question for a few seconds before Josuke let out another small sigh. "Yeah.." he then mumbled into the speaker, shame rushing over him once again. He felt like such an idiot. He didn't want his nephew to see him like this. He didn't want anyone to see him like this.

But there didn't seem to be much of a choice here; at least, he couldn't think of anything better than this. "I- let's just talk about it when we meet, alright?" Josuke then added, hoping Jotaro was going to agree to meet him and maybe even Okuyasu. It'd be better to just explain the situation with him and Okuyasu, telling both their viewpoints and showing the stands, as shameful as it was.

Josuke bit his lip nervously and looked over at Crazy Diamond, who still pouted like a child who didn't get their favorite candy at the store. But if he were honest, he couldn't care less about his Stand right now, even if he could feel its disappointment in his own chest, which wasn't little.

Jotaro couldn't help but feel for the boy. What an awkward situation that was only getting worse and worse from what it seemed. Jotaro was honestly hoping that he wouldn't have to get more involved than he previously had. But there was no way he could say no, as much as he felt like he wanted to. He knew he would feel bad if he made his young uncle deal with this on his own, especially since he had gone through something so similar once before and may very well be able to offer up some decent advice. The thought of those memories left a pain in his chest, but he was going to push that aside for now so that he could at least attempt to be there for Josuke.

It didn't seem like he had a choice anyway when it came to meeting the boys today; Josuke was already determining that they would talk about it when they met. So that just confirmed it; at least he didn't need to emotionally burden himself with the decision anymore.

"Alright, alright, yare yare... calm down, okay? You guys will be fine, so there's no need to panic like that. Where should I meet you? Your place?" As he spoke, he tried to put on a gentle tone for the boy. But he wasn't sure how it came off, and it might have just sounded annoyed more than anything. But he really was trying to comfort his uncle to the best of his abilities.

Josuke overcame relief, even muting his shame for a moment. "Yeah, sounds good. Thanks, Jotaro.." he responded, his voice sounding exhausted, which he really was. He was just trying to enjoy a good day with his friend, but his Stand just didn't want to cooperate.

It really annoyed the blue-eyed man, but he swallowed those emotions and focused back on his conversation. "I'll meet ya there then."

"Yeah, don't mention it. See you soon." Jotaro mumbled back to the boy before hanging up the phone and pressing his hand to his forehead in frustration, sighing again as he resumed making his coffee, but now instead pouring it into a travel mug so that he could bring it with him. He then grabbed his keys and slid on his jacket and shoes, and he was out. He was already pretty much ready otherwise. When they ended the conversation and hung up the call, Josuke placed the speaker back with another sigh. He glared over at Crazy Diamond and furrowed his brows when he looked at him.

"You're really annoying right now, dude!" Josuke complained to his soul, but no response followed. Josuke then rushed back in Okuyasu's direction, though whenever he arrived, he kept his distance as he still saw his Stand out and about as well. Back at the park, Okuyasu was sitting on the bench, trying to take calming breaths to soothe his body's insane reaction to this whole predicament. His Stand noticed Josuke and Crazy Diamond before he did, letting out an excited-sounding chitter and attempting to move toward the other Stand again. Okuyasu snapped his head in the direction of the Stand's shenanigans just in time to catch Josuke yelling out to him.

"Oku! Jotaro will meet us at our place!" Josuke shouted, placing his hands around his mouth for more reverberation. He felt bad for his friend; he felt like this was all his fault, and now Okuyasu had to deal with this as well. Even though he had problems with his Stand now, Josuke couldn't help but blame himself. "Let's walk there at a distance, 'kay?" Josuke shouted again, making sure they weren't going to get too close to one another again, just in case their Stands would act up.

Okuyasu stood up fast and shot out a thumbs-up. "Nice! Sounds like a plan!" He yelled back before turning to walk in the direction of their home ahead of his friend. His Stand was extremely upset by this. It was trying to fight the distance it was bound to its user by making the most noise at once that it ever has. Okuyasu could feel in his own body how crushed and upset The Hand was feeling by these actions, and it made him feel guilty.